


Opening Moves

by Lowten



Series: The Best Laid Plans series [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Catgirl Hermione, Catgirl! AU, F/M, Harry not op, Hogwarts Fourth Year, Runes, Smart Harry, Study of Ancient Runes (Harry Potter), Triwizard Tournament
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-05
Updated: 2021-02-25
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:47:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 13
Words: 72,373
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25727665
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lowten/pseuds/Lowten
Summary: Harry and Hermione return to Hogwarts for their fourth year. Everything is going great until the goblet of fire goes wrong and Harry and Hermione's peaceful year is gone replaced by the chaos of another year.What will Harry do when he discovers his Godfather is rotting in jail! and what the hell is this about a betrothal contract!?!?
Relationships: Fleur Delacour/Harry Potter, Fleur Delacour/Hermione Granger, Fleur Delacour/Hermione Granger/Harry Potter, Hermione Granger/Harry Potter, Hermione Granger/Harry Potter/Other(s), Tracey Davis/Daphne Greengrass
Series: The Best Laid Plans series [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1861081
Comments: 120
Kudos: 159





	1. home Again

**BOOK TWO**

**Opening Moves**

**Chapter 1 - home**

Hermione and Harry both drew their wands for the job Infront of them. It wasn't a hard job; both could have easily done it by hand. But levitating their luggage off the train would be the last bit of magic that they could do until September so neither of them wanted to waste the opportunity. Harry levitated Hedwig in her cage onto his trunk and then levitated his trunk out of the door. Hermione opted to carry Crookshanks in his carrier while directing her trunk to follow Harry.

The platform was busy with witches and wizards catching sight of their children for the first time in months. Hermione led Harry around the crowd to cross into the Muggle part of the station where her own parents waited. Just before the barrier the two underage Wix ended the spells on their luggage as they settled the trunks onto a trolley and returned their wands to their holsters. They would both really miss magic but the law was clear, as the two of them were underage they were not allowed to use magic outside of school unless there was an emergency. As Harry had had such an emergency last summer, he doubted that the D.M.L.E. would be so lenient again.

The two walked through the barrier that separated Platform 9¾ from the rest of Kings' Cross and were instantly shifted from a crowd of reunited families to a crowd of rushed commuters. The two pushed their way through the mass of overworked and underpaid people, Hedwig fussing the entire time because she wasn't a fan of her cage, which drew a few looks from people. Eventually Harry spotted Dan at the far end of the station, close to the exit and away from the crowd, and pointed him out to Hermione. Having seen her father Hermione was off, leaving Harry behind to deal with the trolley and make his way through the mass of people.

It took Harry a few minutes to follow Hermione. The trolley was harder to navigate around people than a lone teen was. When Harry finally got clear of the crowd, he could see Hermione with her arms wrapped around her parents. Harry had missed the two dentists as well, but he was nowhere near as close to them as Hermione was. Harry started pushing the trolley over to them, but his heart sank when he saw someone he had hoped he would never see again. His uncle Vernon was standing near the exit scanning the crowd looking for him.

Harry looked at the floor as he made his way towards the Grangers; if he was lucky, now that Harry was wearing clothes that fit instead of his cousins extra extra baggy cast offs, his uncle wouldn't spot him amongst the other people in the station. Of course, if you want not to be noticed, you probably shouldn't have distinctively messy hair, a large trolley with two large ornate trunks, and an owl in a cage. At least not while you are in a Muggle area; in Diagon Alley or Hogsmeade it might have worked.

Harry's first indication that he had been spotted was the obvious one, Uncle Vernon's voice shouting, "Boy it's about time you turned up! I have better things to do than wait around for you! Get in the car, we are going!" It sounded like his temper was already lost for the day. Harry almost did what his uncle ordered on reflex but instead pretended he hadn't heard and continued to the Grangers. Madam Bones had said it plainly in her letter, unless he received an official letter from her on Ministry-headed parchment, then it was illegal for him to go with his uncle.

"Boy! Enough of your foolishness, let's go! I have places to be!" Vernon once again shouted over the background noise in the station.

Hermione looked up from the hug she was enjoying from her parents at the sound of shouting. Harry's uncle was the one shouting and he was shouting at Harry, and that pissed her off. Hermione had only seen Harry's uncle twice before today: almost exactly a year ago and then the year before that, when the man had picked up Harry at the end of the school year. Some might have considered it odd that Hermione could remember so well a man she had only seen a handful of times, but as it was Harry's uncle she had paid attention. It also helped that his overly rotund figure was somewhat distinctive, and the family resemblance to the photos of his sister that she had seen in the paper also helped.

Hermione watched as Harry deliberately ignored his uncle, watching his feet and not looking around for the source of the shouting like everyone else. His uncle could see it too, and started across the station towards Harry. Hermione started to rush to Harry, her parents following behind. They could see what was happening, it was their duty as Harry's current guardians, but more than that it was a thirteen year old in trouble. That Harry was close enough to their daughter to almost be considered family just made it more urgent.

Vernon reached Harry first and grabbed his arm and started pulling him towards the exit. Hermione watched as Harry just sort of closed down and accepted it and started to shuffle along next to his uncle. Harry who had fought trolls, acromantulas, a basilisk, two dark Wix, and a horde of Dementors and won, wasn't fighting back at all. Hermione didn't understand it, but she could see all she needed to see: for whatever reason Harry couldn't fight back against this man so she would do it for him. She grabbed Harry's other arm and pulled him away from his uncle, shouting "Get away from him!"

Vernon turned to look at her, a look of anger on his face. He was about to push her away from Harry and continue manhandling Harry when her parents slipped between them and the man that had left all those scar's over Harry's torso. Hermione knew from where the scars, always in two parallel lines, came.

"Mr Dursley, what an unexpected surprise. What are you doing here today." Despite the friendly words, her dad's tone was ice cold. And no one could have mistaken it for friendly

"You! Haven't you caused enough trouble for me? I know you tipped off that cop. I am here to collect the boy, now move out of the way." He was using his size to try and intimate them. Hermione felt a little afraid, but compared to LeStrange Vernon Dursley was just not that intimidating. Her parents ignored the posturing as well. Harry was the only one who looked nervous.

" _Harry,"_ Emma put emphasis on his name, as Harry wasn't just a 'boy', "was placed in our custody to prevent any future incidents like the one that happened last year. Leave now or I will call the police and tell them just how like your sister you are."

"I had a letter from one of those people saying that I was to come and collect him today," Vernon said through gritted teeth.

"Unless you have a repeal of the custody order for us signed by the head of the D.M.L.E., then that letter isn't worth the paper it's written on," Dan replied. Hermione was angry now; someone _(probably the headmaster)_ was trying to send Harry back where he would get hurt.

"Those are your laws, not mine. I only answer to the real police. Your people have no authority in my life! And according to the government, my wife and I are the boy's guardians."

"Actually Mr. Dursley, you will find if you were to look it up that you are not Harry's legal guardian any more," interrupted a young woman dressed in a dark grey trouser suit and a familiar face. "The Ministry has some limited contact with the government and social services; when it comes to a child like Mr Potter, then we do have the full authority under treaty to act and move him to a safe location."

"And who the hell are you!" Vernon eyed the interloper, obviously searching her for any sign she was a witch.

The young woman grinned as she replied, "I am Auror Tonks. An auror is our equivalent of a detective, although it's not a direct comparison. Basically, it's my job to investigate crimes and protect the people like Harry and Hermione from threats. While I may not be able to arrest you myself, I can make life very difficult for you. Maybe even a phone call to the police from inside your house." Tonks was staring at Vernon right in the eyes.

Hermione picked up on what Tonks was saying immediately and by the gasps from Vernon, Harry and her parents, they all picked up on it as well. Tonks had been the one who got the police to Marge Dursley's house.

"You evil freak, you have no right to interfere with the lives of good and honest people just trying to make a living!" Vernon Dursley was fuming. "Why can't you people just stay the hell out of my life?"

"Good and honest? I only brought the cops there; she was the one with the dogfighting business and child slaves. The funny thing is, if you had acted like a proper guardian and prevented your sister from harming an innocent child in your care, I never would have found out what your sister was doing." Tonks sounded like she was really enjoying herself now as she laid Vernon's sins back on his own shoulders. "And yet I'm going to give you exactly what you asked for. Turn around and leave. Just go, and you won't have to deal with anyone else from our world again. Without Harry in your life, none of us have any reason to contact you at all. Just leave and it's over."

Hermione watched as Dursley worked through what Tonks was saying. "So the freak goes with you lot and it's done? All of it? No more vanishing glass, no more being followed across the country, and no more poxy owls? It's a wash, my family and I get to go back to living normal lives?" He seemed to like the idea.

"Just so. You can forget all about us." Tonks agreed.

"Then take him. He's yours. Goodbye freak!" And he turns and hurried out of the station as though he thought if he stayed around any longer they might change their minds. Tonks and the Grangers watched as he left. _Good riddance, how disgusting of a man he was to care so little about his nephew_. Harry was too busy breathing deeply trying to keep calm to watch his uncle leave.

Hermione put her arm around him, which calmed him down a little. Then Emma surprised him by pulling Harry and by extension Hermione into a hug. Harry hadn't ever been hugged by an adult before, not that he could remember. He had hugged Hagrid the one time at the start of the school year, but that had been him doing the hugging and not being the one getting hugged.

Harry had expected to get that noted panicky feeling in his stomach like he got when most people touched him, but he was surprised to feel just warm and safe. It was similar and yet completely different to when Hermione hugged him, her hugs had something more about them. Harry threw his arms around the mother and daughter Grangers and pulled them against him for a few moments until he finished composing himself.

They separated from the hug and Harry noticed both Dan and Tonks were watching him. Harry blushed hard and said, "Uh...hi?"

Dan laughed good-naturedly before saying, "Hello Harry, it's good to see you again."

Harry nodded, not knowing what else to say he replied with, "It's good to be back, and it's great to see you too."

Hermione giggled at them. "Ok you two stop being so awkward and formal." Before she turned to Tonks. "So it's Auror Tonks now? Not Trainee Auror Tonks?"

Tonks beamed at Hermione. "Caught that did you? Yep, as of three days ago I'm now Rookie Auror Tonks, freshly graduated from Brighton Academy's Auror course." Harry and Hermione beamed. They both thought Tonks seemed cool last time they met and it was good that her career was progressing.

"So what are you doing here today? Work, or do you have a family member coming home from Hogwarts?" Hermione asked to keep the conversation going.

Tonks grinned. "Watching to make sure all you little kiddies get off the train and to your proper families today is my first assignment. Boss lady Bones put me on this one specially because I already know about Harry's relatives, and she thought that something like that might happen." She pointed at the door Vernon had just left though.

Harry joined the conversation; he had been giving Auror Tonks a calculating look while she spoke. "You told him you'd make a phone call from inside the house. That's what happened to Aunt Marge. Did you have something to do with that?" Hermione was sure Harry didn't mean it to sound as harsh as it did, he just needed to know what happened with his relatives.

Luckily Tonks seemed to understand. "Well considering how she as well as your aunt and uncle treated you, and that your aunt and uncle's motivation was knowing about your heritage, we had to check that she wasn't a breach to the Statute of Secrecy. Director Bones sent me to investigate her and I found what she was doing. I wanted to arrest her myself for what she had done to you before I went there." A dark look crossed her face. "After I went there I wanted to throw her in the deepest darkest cell in Azkaban and vanish the key. But she is a Muggle and so were her victims, and I wasn't a full Auror yet. I was just on a fact-finding mission, so I broke in that same night and called the cops." She grinned. "And once they were there I screamed for help and then apparated out. The cops investigated and the rest ended up as *"chip wrapper."

Hermione watched Harry as a lot of complex emotions passed over his face. She understood, Tonks had removed a number of obstacles from Harry's life. It may have been Tonks job to investigate but she had obviously wanted to help Harry. And Harry was always more comfortable doing the saving than being the one saved.

Harry eventually decided what he wanted to say. "Thank you. After what happened last summer I don't know what would have happened if I had had to face them this summer…thank you."

"Hey kid, it's no problem. I became an Auror to help people who need it, and that's what I did." Tonks looked like she was steeling herself for a moment before she continued. "Besides my great aunt Dorea, whom I was somewhat named after..." She then mumbled under her breath to herself, but thanks to the upgrade to her hair band Hermione could hear it clear as day, "even if my fool of a mother choose the bloody name Nymphadora." She continued at a regular volume, "Was your grandmother Dorea potter. You didn't make the connection last time we met and I told you how both you and I were related to LeStrange, and you weren't in a good place for me to bring it up at the time. You had the best family Harry, but you also have the worst. The war wasn't kind to the good parts of our family, but now I - we - have found you again and we don't intend to lose you.

"You are with good people now." She nodded at Hermione and her parents. "But if you ever need help don't hesitate to contact me, OK?" Tonks watched Harry to see how he would react to her little speech. It was obvious to Hermione that Tonks must have practised that little bit a few times, and easy to see that she was nervous. And Hermione could understand why, considering how Harry had reacted last time she had been around when family was brought up to Harry.

Harry was stunned, he obviously didn't know what to say. Hermione wanted to help him but it was his decision to make. She knew that Harry was desperate for any form of a family after the way his mother's relatives had treated him. Yet, after discovering that he was related to Malfoy and LeStrange, she wouldn't be surprised if Harry just didn't have any trust left for the bonds of blood.

"I.. uh…" Harry tried to say something but was lost as to what to say. Hermione watched as a blush started to creep up his cheeks. Strangely, it was Hedwig who settled everything. Hermione couldn't figure out how, but somehow she escaped her cage and took flight. After a quick circuit around the area, she landed on Auror Tonks' shoulder while watching Harry and hooting gently.

Hermione watched as shocked looks took over everyone's faces and presumed that hers didn't look much different. That was, until a huge grin spread over Harry's face. "Well, how could I ignore an endorsement like that? I'll definitely stay in touch." Tonks beamed at Harry and Hedwig flew back to Harry and landed on his shoulder. Hermione laughed at Harry's face as the snowy owl lightly nibbled his ear.

After that, Tonks had to leave and go back to checking on all the students and making sure they all had someone there to collect them. So after a quick goodbye, her mum and dad lead both her and Harry to the car. While it was true that they didn't live that far from the station, it was still a few miles and walking that far with their trunks wouldn't be pleasant. Unfortunately, there was no car park at Kings' Cross Station, so it was still a bit of a walk just to the car.

On the way her dad asked, "So what should we get for dinner tonight? First night back so it's a welcome home dinner and all the rules about healthy eating are off tonight."

Hermione started to think about it. What did she fancy to eat? Some of the more British unhealthy foods such as fish'n'chips were available at Hogwarts, so it was almost a waste getting something like that. The immediate options of pizza, curry, or Chinese food jumped into her mind, but then she thought about some fried chicken and she knew just where to go.

"Why don't we get food from Sam's?" She asked everyone.

"What's that?" asked Harry, curious.

"It's a Turkish kebab house that also does burgers, pizzas and really good fried chicken." Hermione answered.

"Sounds perfect, if it's ok with everyone," Harry replied.

"Sounds great," responded Emma. "They have great chicken shish and I haven't had one for ages."

The four of them piled into the car, and Dan turned the car in the opposite direction from home and headed towards the takeaway she had suggested.

With the question of food taken care of, Hermione's mum turned around in her seat and looked at Harry and Hermione seated in the back.

"Are you ok Harry? It can't have been easy for you uncle to turn up like that."

Hermione took Harry's hand in her own, doing what she could to reassure him. She watched as Harry withdrew into himself slightly before he steadied himself and started talking.

"I… I don't really understand what happened. I know I'm not allowed to go back there but when he grabbed me I was just going to follow him. I have dealt with much bigger and stronger things than my uncle while at school but I was too afraid to stand up to him." Hermione stroked his hand to comfort him, but with both Crookshanks and Hedwig between the two of them, she couldn't give him one of her custom hugs.

"That's normal Harry. You have been afraid of him for a long time, much longer than you have known about magic. You learned that he was a danger to you long before you got strong enough to fight back, and reacting like that has become a habit," Emma said gently. "It's not easy to change a habit we used to need to keep us safe, but you can do it, Harry. And you probably won't see him again for a long time anyway."

"Honestly I hope I never have to see him, my aunt or my cousin ever again." Harry replied

_**-ϟϟϟ-** _

When they pulled the car up in front of the house Hermione jumped out, excited to be home. She pulled both Crookshanks and Hedwig out of the car and handed them to her mum, then rushed around to the boot of the car to get their trunks. She passed Harry's trunk to her father and picked up her own.

Harry watched Hermione with a slightly bemused expression on his face. Maybe it was because the gap between summer and Christmas was shorter than the one between Christmas and summer, but Hermione was nowhere near this hyped up when they had returned for Christmas break.

It was only when Hermione went towards the door carrying her trunk that Harry started to get the suspicion that there was something off.

"Can you open the door for us, please, Harry?" Hermione asked, unable to hide the merriness in her voice.

"We seem to have our hands full," added Emma, holding up Crooks and Hedwig.

Harry realized that it was staged, probably Hermione's idea to get him to use the key she had given him months ago. He fished out the key that was tucked into the small pocket of his wand holster (where he also kept his trunk keys) and used it to open the door.

"Welcome home Harry," Dan said as he stood behind Harry. "Now if you'll go in because you are blocking the way, we can get to dinner!"

Harry moved and helped put the trunks in the house, he and Hermione would take them upstairs after dinner. Emma let Hedwig and Crookshanks out of their carriers. Crooks gave Emma an affectionate rub then darted off up the stairs, presumably needing his litter tray. Hedwig's behaviour was similar, only she swooped out of the still-open front door and turned north towards The Heath, probably looking for a juicy mouse.

At dinner Harry and Hermione discussed their time at Hogwarts since Christmas. It got a little strained when they spoke of what happened with LeStrange, but the two older Grangers both said that getting Madam Bones involved and her placing an Auror at the school was a big improvement over the year before, where Hermione had gotten petrified by a monster that was hiding in the school for about six months without any progress made into catching it before Hermione was targeted.

On the other side, Dan and Emma heaped praise on Harry when Hermione told them about how much more effort he had put into his school work this year. Harry, who had never had such praise from anyone before outside of Quidditch, blushed so hard he could have recooked the fried chicken he was eating a second time. He had gone with Hermione's recommendation and gotten the fried chicken, potato wedges and coleslaw from Sam's and it was a good choice. The Grangers also praised Hermione as she told them she still ranked highest in the year overall, even if she wasn't the top student in every subject.

Once Harry and Hermione were finished telling their tale of school, they got to listen to Dan and Emma as they talked about what had happened in their lives. Mostly it was run of the mill stuff that was only interesting because the two teens cared about the two dentists. If Harry had to listen to anyone but Dan as he complained about losing his no-claims bonus for his car insurance, Harry would have had a hard time not yawning. However, he found the conversation interesting enough, if lacking in substance.

One topic that captured Harry's attention was Dan telling him about taking the Dursleys to dinner. At first, Harry had felt a little betrayed that the Grangers would go to dinner with his aunt and uncle. But as the story went on and Dan explained how Vernon had been trying to sell them dental drills, and how Dan had been stringing him along as much as he could, Harry felt a great of vindictive satisfaction. Dan told him how Vernon and Petunia had been tricked into insulting themselves, stuck with the bill, and arrested for drunk driving and assaulting a police officer.

Once that story was told Emma spoke up and said, "And we have a surprise for the two of you. We are all going to France. Tomorrow!" A big smile graced her face.

Hermione screamed in joy. "Oh my god really? We are going to see uncle, Steven?" Emma nodded at her daughter's question. " Yes! Yes! Yes! It's been ages since I got to see uncle Steven and his family." Hermione's face quickly turns a bit panicky. "But we haven't done any shopping. We'll need new clothes and I know I need a new bathing suit! And what about my cat problem? And what about Harry's passport? We never got Harry's documents from his uncle did we? So how can he leave the country? And who will look after Crookshanks?..."

Hermione was running on, so Harry did the only thing he could think of to get her to calm down. He stood up and pulled her into a hug and kissed her. The kiss wasn't one of the long make-out sessions from the Room of Requirement, but it wasn't a chaste peck on the cheek either. "Mione. If you don't give your mum a chance to talk, she can't answer any of your questions."

Harry turned from Hermione to face her parents then the realisation of what he had done hit him full in the face. He had kissed Hermione right in front of her parents. They had given each other a few pecks while her parents were in the room but that was it. A part of him was panicking that they would be angry at him, even though he knew that they were aware that the two of them kissed on a regular basis.

The reaction Harry didn't expect was the one they got: a pleased smile from Emma, while Dan was examining one of the pictures on the wall as though it was the first time he had seen it.

"Thank you Harry" Emma said before continuing. "Your father and I have gotten you each a few things, but we are mostly going to buy what we need in Paris. We are meeting Sarah and Steven in Paris and we are going to spend a couple of days shopping before we continue with the holiday. Your father and I will travel to Paris first on our own, while you and Harry will travel via magical means. That way you don't have to worry about your ears and tail being revealed. The two of you will be travelling on a magical world passport issued by the Ministry of Magic, so that covers his paperwork and your 'fuzzy problem'. Finally, Crooks and Hedwig have a reservation at a magical animal hotel that has a reputation for spoiling its guests." Emma smiled as she explained. "A witch should be by tomorrow morning to pick them up."

"How long are we going for? Will Ali be joining us in Paris? What are we doing after that?"

The conversation continued on from there, with Hermione asking about what they planned to do and who they planned to visit. Harry didn't know who Sarah and Ali were, but Hermione had mentioned that her family had a friend called Steven who moved to France and stayed there after he met a woman. Harry presumed this was Sarah, he had no clue who Ali was but Hermione definitely seemed excited to see him/her? Harry didn't know how he felt about someone he didn't know looking after Hedwig but he was also looking forward to seeing another country. Until his uncle started to drag Harry around half the country trying to shake off the letters from Hogwarts, Harry had nearly never got to visit outside of Little Whinging. The idea of seeing somewhere so different was exciting.

_**-ϟϟϟ-** _

Hermione had changed into her sleeping outfit, a camisole and underwear to combat the sudden change in heat from going south to London from Scotland. She would have worn a nightie or something similar but her tail would just push it up embarrassingly. She was just setting up an electric fan when there was a knock at her door. She turned to open it herself but the door was already opening to reveal her mum standing in the doorway holding two bowls of ice cream.

Hermione smiled as her mum came into her room for their little ritual of a welcome-home mother-daughter chat. The two Granger women sat on Hermione's bed cross-legged, each holding a bowl with an unhealthy amount of chocolate caramel swirl ice cream.

"So how was your year? Last year you had a tale of your new boyfriend and how he was a good kisser. I refuse to believe that there have been no developments since then." Her mum asked with her regular gossipy tone that she used for these discussions. Hermione knew it was to keep the conversation comfortable while her mum probed for information, but Hermione never had trouble talking to her mum about this stuff. She couldn't talk to her dad about it, but her mum always gave great advance.

She grinned. "And what do you think Harry and I have done?" Hermione took a bite of her ice cream and moaned as it melted across her tongue.

"Nope. That's not how this works, now spill or I'll take my ice cream back," her mum joked, causing Hermione to hug her bowl to her chest just as jokingly. "We...Harry and I have done some things, but to answer your real question, we haven't had sex. Not yet."

"Not yet?" Her mother's tone took on a conspiratorial edge.

"I have stopped using the suppression potion. At least for now," Hermione admitted.

"Why?" The curiosity in her voice didn't quite mask her motherly concern.

"I'm building a resistance to it. I need to keep it for when I really need to not get distracted." Hermione explained to her mum. "I don't want to risk being too horny to concentrate in the middle of my O.W.L.s or my N.E.W.T. exams, so I talked to Madam Pomfrey about how to get the best results. I just finished my last month on that potion so next month…" Hermione trailed off, she didn't need to say it. Part of her was really looking forward to the experience, even if she was nervous.

"And what about the contraception part of the potion?" Hermione could again hear the concern in her mother's voice. Of course her mother would be worried about that, what mother wouldn't be?

"That still works fine. It's formulated to be taken over a long period of time and keep working. The suppression potion is a lot less in demand and just hasn't been researched on as much." That was a problem with the wizarding world: they relied on potion masters to improve potions but the potion masters themselves often chose to work on potions that personally interested them. Of course there was more interest in developing a potion to increase the amount of sex that was available to them than there was to reduce it. It was probably why there were so many types of love potion out there. Hermione suppressed a shudder at that thought. "I have a supply of regular contraceptive droughts that will keep me covered for the summer. Madam Pomfrey was very helpful with that." Hermione could see her mum relax a little.

"Good. As much as I understand that with the changes you went through that you would probably start that part of your life early, I'm proud of the fact that you have waited as long as you have. I'm not ready to be a granny yet."

"Trust me, the last thing I want right now is to get pregnant. I want to be a mum one day, but I have so much I want to do first. Especially as Madam Pomfrey told me recently that it's illegal for a witch to get an abortion. I will be taking all the care possible not to get pregnant." Hermione watched as her mum got angry, as she knew she would at hearing that abortions were illegal for witches. Hermione, her mum and her grandmother were all firmly set on a woman's right to choose.

Before her mum could start insulting the wizarding world and destroy the friendly mood Hermione explained. "It's not about controlling women. The wizarding legal system is different, most law is House law. And the head of (for example) the House of Potter would make their own laws for the people of their house. The Wizengamot is a lot more limited, the only reason they could make this law is because, technically witches and wizards are an endangered species. I don't like it, but I can at least say it's a better reason than just because a religion said so."

Her mum changed the subject before either of them could get worked up. "So, have you talked to Harry about all this yet?" The question was one Hermione was expecting but it was still enough to put her on edge because she knew she needed to talk with Harry but she hadn't. She shook her head and stared at her bowl of ice cream, too embarrassed to look her mother in the eye. "Why not? Are you afraid of what he will say?" Her mum prodded. Hermione shook her head again. Harry had been supportive ever since her change, she didn't think that it would ever change. "Then why?" Her mother's tone said she wanted answers.

"It's awkward. I haven't told Harry about my issue for so long. And I found something about myself this year that surprised me, it just makes talking to Harry harder. I want to tell him, but I don't want him to misunderstand me, and it's just an awkward conversation anyway. I don't know how to approach it," Hermione confessed, the words barely above a whisper.

Her mother was silent for almost a minute before she spoke. "What did you find out about yourself?" The question was gentle and caring.

Hermione hesitatingly bit her lip before she blurted out. "I like girls."

Silence hung in the air for an agonizing minute. Hermione could see the tension in her mother's shoulders. Hermione started to panic a little, her mother had always been fully supportive of people no matter who they liked. but Hermione thought of Daphne's mother. Maybe her mum would be fine with it being anyone but her daughter.

"What about Harry, you seem to be into him and he's a guy?" Her mum asked cautiously.

"I still like guys as well." She could see the tension flow out of her mother's shoulders. "I still love Harry, and I still want to be with him. I just found that I also like girls."

Her mum relaxed. "That's a relief."

"I didn't think you had a problem with people not being straight!" Hermione half-accused, half-pleaded.

Her mum looked shocked for a second, then a thoughtful look passed over her face and a flash of understanding. Her mum put down her bowl of ice cream and crawled over Hermione's bed and pulled her into a hug.

"My sweet daughter, I love you and I always will. No matter who you choose to love. I was afraid of how a break-up with Harry would affect you, especially as he lives here now. My worry had nothing to do with you liking girls. I was worried I might have to help you through a bad break-up."

Hermione relaxed into her mother's arms as she explained, but the situation did remind her of something she was worried about. "What do I do if I tell Harry and he thinks I want to break up? Or that he needs to break up with me to help me? I wanted to tell him but I was terrified he would misunderstand."

"You just need to talk to him and explain everything, honey. He is smart enough to understand. Though maybe tell him that you are bisexual, instead of saying you like girls. If he needs an explanation, say that you like guys, but you also like girls. Mention liking guys first and that should prevent a mistake." Hermione felt a little dumb after her mother said that. The solution seemed so obvious after her mother said it, how could she not have thought of it herself weeks ago? "Now do you need help with how to talk to Harry about sex, or are you ok? If you're going to cross that bridge soon, you'll need to talk to him first."

"I think I'm just going to have to bite the bullet and talk to him. It's going to be embarrassing but there is no avoiding that," Hermione admitted.

"It will be embarrassing. But don't forget, it will be just as embarrassing for Harry. Remember, don't pressure him into anything he isn't ready for. A lot of people think that guys are always ready, but it's not true. It would be wrong if a boy pushed you when you weren't ready, but it's just as bad if you pressure a boy."


	2. chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Harry and Hermione stepped out of the front door, locking it up behind them. Dan and Emma had left earlier that morning, getting into a taxi that would take them to the airport where they were going to catch the plane to France. Initially, Hermione thought her parents would be taking a train through the new channel tunnel. However, while the tunnel was completed, they weren't going to be sending commercial trains through until November. Maybe next year they could all take the train to Paris; there were probably fewer security checks on a train than on an air flight.

Hermione checked the instructions they had again, much to Harry's amusement. Dan and Emma had apparently spoken to Director Bones, who had been more than happy to help them get in touch with one of the Ministry's less prestigious departments, the Department of Muggle Liaison. They were able to help the older Grangers arrange transportation and documentation for Harry and Hermione to visit France.

The first thing they had to do was get to the Ministry of Magic, but that was a rather easy thing according to the information packet that the Muggle Liaison officer had put together for them. They would be travelling by something called the Knight Bus, which could take them anywhere in the mainland United Kingdom that they wanted to go. All they needed to do was wave a wand hand while standing next to a road.

Harry did just that, and less than twenty seconds later, a huge purple triple-decker bus pulled up right in front of them. A man dressed as an old-style conductor stepped off the bus. "Welcome to the Knight Bus, emergency transportation for the witch or wizard in need. We'll take you anywhere you want as long as we don't need to drive over water."

"Uh, hi, we need to get to the Ministry of Magic visitors’ entrance." Hermione took charge of talking to the conductor, who looked only about nineteen.

"That would be one Galleon each." The conductor told them. Harry pulled the two gold coins from his pocket. The instructions they had included the price, so Harry had kept two coins separate in order to pay quickly. As he handed the gold over, he watched as the conductor's eyes flicked to Harry's forehead, then to Hermione and back to his forehead.

"Well knock me down with a feather, it's Harry Potter and Her-my-own Granger! I seen you both in the papers this last week." Harry hid a wince. Not only was the conductor the type of wizard who seemed obsessed with the media, but he had butchered Hermione's name. "Hey Ernie, it's Harry Potter and his girlfriend, you know the one who was in that article all the witches were talking about the other week!" He shouted to the driver.

Harry thought that the conductor would keep them standing here all day, so he jumped in before he could start talking again. "Um, we do need to get to the Ministry. Maybe it would be better if we continued once we are on our way. Plus, I don't want to keep your other passenger's waiting."

The conductor jumped as he remembered that he was working at the moment and showed them onto the bus. Harry looked around with some trepidation. He had expected wizards not to have regular bus seats; his years in the wizarding world had shown him that wizards often had strange ideas when it came to adapting Muggle things. What he hadn't expected was a bunch of armchairs and loveseats just scattered throughout the space. Yes, the seats looked comfortable, but they also looked like they would bounce around the bus whenever the bus moved. Hermione pulled Harry into one of the empty loveseats. Almost as soon as they were seated, the bus lurched forward with a bang. The love seat that the two teens occupied slid towards the back of the bus, crashing into the other furniture.

Hermione grabbed Harry and buried her face in his chest. Harry recalled from last summer when they visited Gringotts that she didn't like roller coasters and the like. He could only imagine how much worse this was for her. He wrapped an arm around her and held her close. Hopefully, this trip wouldn't be too long. Harry looked out the window expecting to see the grey of London's streets only to see Hogsmeade out the window. Harry may have only been there once, but the magical village was hard to forget.

Seeing Harry's curious look, the conductor said. "This is where we was before ya flagged us down. We need ta drop off Madam Solbloom. Poor old thing can't focus enough to apparate any more." They soon pulled up next to one of the homes on the outskirts of the village on the far side from the school, and a little old witch carrying a few bags of shopping came down the stairs to the upper decks. The conductor was instantly at her side, helping her safely down the steps and off the bus. Once she was off, the bus lurched again, and this time they were travelling through a Muggle city again. However, as Harry could see the sea in the distance, it was definitely not London.

The conductor, now having time, continued talking to Harry and Hermione. Well, mostly to Harry as Hermione was doing her best to keep down her breakfast. He introduced himself as Stan Shunpike, and he was a gossip. He not only questioned them about the article that had appeared in both  _ Witch Weekly _ and  _ Teen Witch Weekly _ , but he also went on about the fact that the Ministry was not looking too good over the escape of LeStrange. She had left the UK, and Fudge couldn't send anyone to look for her in other countries.

He also went on about how LeStrange's companion had put the  _ Imperius _ Curse on Malfoy and made him do such terrible things. That had been Draco and his father's defence at his trial for repeatedly using an Unforgivable Curse on Harry. That it was a complete crock of shit hadn't stopped the Wizengamot from clearing the git. Harry did tell Stan that he didn't believe that Malfoy was under the  _ Imperius _ Curse. As Stan seemed to be a bit of a gossip, Harry hoped that maybe a few members of the public would doubt it as well, after Stan told them about what “'arry Potter said”.

After another four people got off the bus and two more got on, it was Harry and Hermione's stop. The bus pulled up next to an alley someplace in London that Harry didn't recognise. He and Hermione gladly got off the bus; Harry had fared better than Hermione, but even he started to feel queasy after the first two stops. The alleyway was completely dull. Harry wouldn't have looked at it twice if he was walking past. The only thing of note in the alley was an old-style red telephone box with a large “Out of Order” sign on it. According to the instructions that they had, the phone box was the entrance to the ministry.

Hermione leaned on Harry as they went and got in the box. Typically, Hermione would have charged ahead, wanting to understand the magic used to conceal one of the most important places in magical Britain. However, she was busy trying to put her stomach back in its proper location after the trip in the Knight Bus. The two of them got into the booth, and Harry picked up the phone and dialled 62442 as the instructions told him.

"Welcome to the Ministry of Magic, please state your name and the reason for your visit today." A woman's voice came from all around them.

"Harry Potter and Hermione Granger here for an appointment with…" Harry rechecked the instructions. “The Department of Magical Transportation - Portkey Office," Harry spoke into the receiver. He doubted it mattered, but the habit of a lifetime was difficult to break. There was a sound of something falling into the coin return slot, and the phone booth started to sink into the floor.

The voice returned. "All visitors to the Ministry are required to display their visit badge on the front of their robes at all times while inside the Ministry. You are required to present your wands for registration to the welcome wizard. Have a nice day." Harry reached into the coin return slot and pulled out two golden badges. The first badge stated  _ HARRY POTTER - Portkey Office appointment _ . The only difference with the other was that it had Hermione's name. Hermione reached into the bag she was carrying and pulled out two sets of light casual open style robes. Harry recognised one of them as belonging to himself, and he gave Hermione a questioning look.

"You've seen what wizards are like, they are completely opposed to change. I don't want to deal with that and bureaucracy at the same time." She handed Harry his robe, and he pulled it on over his t-shirt and jeans. He knew what Hermione was avoiding saying. Muggleborn were very under-represented at the Ministry, and family names counted for a lot when the Ministry was hiring. Such people were more likely to have a problem with her parents, but looking like she was more comfortable in robes than Muggle clothing would stop people jumping to conclusions that (while accurate) could lead them to be disruptive.

Harry straightened out his robes before pinning the badge to the front. He and Hermione bumped into each other a few times as they sorted themselves out in the right space. The booth reached the bottom, and the door opened, Hermione stepping out first and Harry following. The atrium was huge. The great hall at Hogwarts that comfortably sat 1400-ish students could have fit inside four maybe even five times. The room was a large oval; there were magical fireplaces lining the walls, and every few minutes, someone would come out of one of the left-hand fireplaces in a green flash of flame. The floor was black marble with veins of white marble and gold running through it. The centre of the room was taken up by a water feature that had a witch, a wizard, and a few other magical races looking up at the witch and wizard with awe and devotion. Privately Harry thought that the only way a goblin would look at a Wix like that would need to involve a severe head injury, or a large bribe and a very gifted goblin actor.

Now that she wasn't queasy from the bus ride, Hermione pulled the instructions from Harry's hand and reread them. "So we just need to present our wands to the welcome witch or wizard, then go to level six." Hermione was talking more to herself than Harry; checking and rechecking was one of Hermione's nervous tics. It normally led Hermione to revise like crazy before any kind of test. Before he had started acting like a total prat in second year, Ron had once joked that Hermione would probably study to pass a blood test. Even Hermione herself laughed at that one. Harry sort of missed Ron, or at least the Ron with whom he had become friends. Ron, as he was now, wasn't someone Harry had any second thoughts about avoiding until he grew up.

The two of them approached the desk that lay between them and the rest of the atrium. A birdish-looking wizard directed them to place their wands on a strange device that looked like half a set of scales. Harry went first.

"Holly wood with a phoenix feather core, 11 ½ inches, in use almost three years," the wizard read off a receipt that had come out of the device. "Is that correct?" Harry told him it was, so the wizard placed the receipt on a spike and handed Harry back his wand.

Hermione went next. "Vine wood with the heart sting of a dragon core, 10 ¾ inches also in use for almost three years. Is that correct?" Hermione answers that it was and the wizard repeated spiking the receipt and returning the wand. "Welcome to the Ministry of Magic. I hope whatever your business here today is, goes well."

He didn't sound that welcoming, and as for hope, it sounded like the only thing he hoped for was the end of his shift. He looked at their badges and said, "The Department of Magical Transportation is on Level Six. The lifts are at the far end of the atrium. Have a nice day."

Hermione spied a few leaflets on the desk and took one of each, and the two made their way to the lifts. No one paid any attention to the two random people walking through the ministry, so Harry was able to look around at everything. The walls and ceiling were a smooth arch of black stone that, while not marble like the floor, was polished to a glossy, almost mirror-like shine that reflected back the light of the fires there for people to use with the Floo network. Three massive columns of white marble were placed in a line, running down the centre of the huge room and supporting the ceiling.

Harry and Hermione joined a queue for a lift going up and soon found themselves pressed in with a bunch of strangers in an old fashioned lift that started moving as soon as the door was closed. Soon, the lift stopped, and the same voice from the phone booth said. "Level Seven - Department of Magical Games and Sports, including British and Irish Quidditch League Headquarters, Official Gobstones Club, and the Ludicrous Patents Office." As soon as the voice ended, the doors slid open, a few people got out, but no one got in. A few paper aeroplanes flew in and started circling at the top of the lift just before the door closed, and the lift started to move again.

Hermione was looking at the paper planes in curiosity. She could see that they had writing on them, but it was impossible to read more than a single word without context. One of the other passengers, a witch who looked to be in her fifties, noticed Hermione eyeing the planes and said, "They’re interdepartmental memos, dear. This is your first visit to the ministry I assume?" She smiled.

"Yes, I guess it's obvious I'm looking at everything like some tourist," Hermione admitted.

"Don't worry about it. Everyone is the same on their first trip here. Well, unless they are here because they are in trouble, then they are too worried about themselves to enjoy the experience. I still remember my first trip here when I was twelve and the Gobstones club was hosting a tournament." The older lady reminisced.

"Did you win?" Hermione asked politely.

“Nope. I got knocked out in the second round by an Irish lad, I think his name was Finnegan."

Before the conversation could go further, the lift stopped again and the voice started talking. "Level Six - Department of Magical Transportation, including Floo Network Authority, Broomstick Regularity Control, Portkey Office and Apparition Testing Center."

As the door opened, Hermione said to the witch, “This is my stop. It was nice meeting you.” Harry and Hermione stepped out of the lift, a few of the memos following them. The two of them found themselves in a long corridor. There were posters everywhere that said things like -

_ 'Splinching hurts - only practice apparition with a licenced instructor.' _

_ 'Unregistered portkeys are a crime - register now or pay the fine.' _

_ 'Don't forget the Floo powder for the return trip - don't leave yourself stranded.' _

Hermione had their instructions out again. "OK, so according to this we just go to the portkey office, they will have a desk for international travel. We will just have to give them our names and the paperwork we have, they will give us some forms to sign and then give us the portkey."

Harry had read the instructions as well; from most people, Harry would have found Hermione's insurance to go over the instructions thirteen times maddeningly annoying, but he didn't mind when it was her. "Well, according to the sign, the portkey office is this way." Harry pointed to the left.

The portkey office was just that, an office, with a witch or wizard handling each desk. The one for international portkeys was the busiest, and a number of the witches and wizards in the queue were definitely not from the UK. At least that's what Harry asúmed, given that a few of them were talking in a language other than English and their robes were quite different to the ones Harry saw British magicals wearing.

Not only was the queue for international travel the longest, but it was also the slowest moving. Travelling to another country took more paperwork than arranging something that only moved inside the UK. Eventually, it was their turn, and after a quick start from the wizard when he realised it was Harry Potter at his desk, things went smoothly.

"Ok Mr Potter, Miss Granger, most of the paperwork seems to have been filed already. That's unusual, do you know why?"

"We are joining my parents in France, and they did most of the paperwork before they left. We had to wait till school let out before we could go." Hermione half-lied. While nothing she said was untrue, it left the impression that her parents were magical and that they had been in France before Hogwarts had let them go for the year. Harry wondered how successful the misdirection would be, given that  _ Witch Weekly _ had referred to Hermione as a Muggleborn, but no matter; if the clerk knew or not, he didn't say anything.

"OK, that makes sense to me. All that is left is for the two of you to sign the forms,'' he handed them each a form and a jet black quill. "Have either of you used a blood quill before?" he asked. They said that they hadn't. "Well, no problem. You just sign your name like normal, but instead of ink it will be signed in your own blood. That will embed your magical signature into the parchment. If it were a contract, then it would become magically binding, but this is just a formality form. So all it means is that you understand what is expected of you as a representative of Britain while you are in another country, and that while in another country you are under their laws. It also gives us a magical signature to check you against when you return home. The quill will cut you a little on the back of your hand, but don't worry, it will completely heal in a second or two." With some hesitation, both of them signed their form. It stung a little bit, but Harry was fascinated to see his own name cut into the back of his hand then to heal completely just as quickly, leaving his signature on the parchment in bright red blood that quickly dried to a dark brownish-red.

The parchment glowed red for a few seconds then faded back to normal. "OK, that's all done. You need to take these forms, go through that door there," he indicated a door behind him that had a sign that read  _ International Departures _ . “The next portkey to France is in 35 minutes so you have plenty of time. You will be leaving from departure room four. Enjoy your holiday." With that, the wizard rushed them along so that he could begin helping the American women behind them.

Behind the door was a waiting area with fifty or so chairs that looked like they had been comfortable at some point but definitely weren't any longer. There were seven doors and a list of destinations and times on a label over them. Above the fourth door it read:

_ Spain 1:30pm _

_ Italy 1:40pm _

_ France 1:50pm _

_ Germany 2:00pm _

The wait wasn't that long, but with nothing to do it seemed to drag on. Every few minutes a witch would call out a country and say what room it was leaving from, and ask those travelling to make their way to the departure room.

Eventually, she called for the people travelling to France. Harry, Hermione, and a couple of older people that Harry and Hermione assumed were French (given that they were speaking French to each other) made their way through the fourth door and down a small corridor, into a round room with a circle of runes etched into the floor.

"OK, you must be the ten to two group going to France. If you're not going to France, you are in the wrong place, and off you go back the way you can." No one moved. "You probably have done this before, but I need to give you all the speech. You will take this rope," he held up a loop of rope that was blue, white, and red, "and go into that circle on the floor there. Keep one hand firmly holding the rope, and the magic will do the rest. Don't let go until you get to France, else you might get left here and there isn’t another portkey till tomorrow. And once you arrive, get out of the landing area quickly. You should have about ten minutes before another group arrives, but there is always the possibility someone screwed up the schedule, and you don't want a group of people landing on you." Harry and Hermione followed the instructions to the letter standing with a strong grip on the rope.

"Hey, Hermione," she looked at him. "Do you think the red, white, and blue rope means that it's going to France or coming from the UK?" It was a pointless question, but he was a little nervous about this new method of travel.

"I don't know. The pattern looks more like the French flag, but it could just be the colours. It's a little silly anyway; red, white, and blue is a very common colour combination for flags: the UK, France and America just to name a few -" Hermione got cut off when they all suddenly felt a pull. It was as if someone had put a hook just behind their belly button and pulled with incredible force. It drew them into a tunnel of wild violent wind that buffeted them on all sides.

Harry couldn't have told you how long it lasted, it could only have been a couple of minutes at most then they were thrown out of the winds and into a huge room with a domed ceiling that must have been fifty feet high in the centre. It was a beautifully decorated room, with white walls and large moving paintings framed with gold-coloured decorative work. It was obviously meant to impress any visitors. However, Harry and Hermione didn't have admiration for classic French decoration on their minds, the two of them were more concerned with the rapidly approaching door and the fact that their heads were spinning too much even to attempt to land on their feet.

As they approached the floor the rope that they were holding slowed down quite a lot. It wasn't enough to stop both Harry and Hermione from crashing to the floor as soon as they landed, but it was sufficient that it was no worse than slipping and falling on your ass. Harry got up quickly so that he could help Hermione to her feet. He was so focused on her that he didn't notice the French ministry official who had approached them until he heard her speak. Of course, she spoke French, so Harry didn't understand a word of it.

“Bienvenue en France. Vous êtes le 14:50 qui vient d’Angleterre?”

"Ouai, c’est nous. Ça fait du bien de revenir.” the Frenchman that had traveled with them said. 

“Vous allez devoir passer par l’immigration, ensuite vous pourrez rentrez chez vous.”

Hermione and the two adults started babbling in French and Harry was utterly lost. But the three of them sounded slightly agitated.

“Désolé, je pensais que vous étiez de la même famille. En attendant, on a toujours besoin de vous faire passer par l’immigration pour la paperasse.” the French ministry women sounded almost subdued. Harry was completely lost.

They all started walking towards an exit, the three adults still jabbering in French, so Harry asked Hermione what was going on.

"Oh it's nothing to worry about, The Ministry woman thought that we were with the other two we travelled with. She thought we were all a family." Hermione explained.

They exited the arrivals room and entered a smaller room decorated in the same style. They were split from the adult French couple as signs directed them to different desks, the older couple going to a desk that dealt with people who had French citizenship while Harry and Hermione were directed to a desk conserving visitors.

The paperwork was relatively quick; they handed over their new passports to be stamped and signed a few documents and that was it, apart from the wizard questioning that two teens were going on holiday to a different country without adult supervision. Hermione explained about them meeting her parents in the city as soon as they finished up with the paperwork and that they were just travelling separately. That had been enough to satisfy the bored French wizard who quickly signed off on them entering the content. He also gave them a booklet on notable magical locations and how to access them, which included the information on how and when they needed to return to the French ministry for their return trip to London. Like their British counterparts, the French 'Ministère des Affaires Magiques de la France' was underground, and it would have been easy to lose their way if Hermione couldn't read the signs well enough to find the exit.

They took a lift up to the city, and a little more than an hour after they had left home in London the two of them stepped out into the streets of Paris. It took the two of them some time and a map book that Dan had included with their travel paperwork for Hermione to orient where they were in the city. "Oh we're just south of the islands in the middle of the city. And mum said we should meet at the Eiffel Tower, so that's about three kilometres west of here. We just need to figure out how to get there."

"Shouldn't be too hard." Harry mused. "I mean the whole city must be used to people looking for the tower, it is their most famous landmark."

"True but it's only three kilometres, it would be a nice walk," Hermione suggested.

So that's what the two of them did. They spent the early part of the afternoon strolling arm in arm west through the streets of Paris on their way to the Eiffel Tower. Considering how tall the tower was, they had thought finding their way would be easy. However, Paris's combination of narrow streets and buildings three to four stories tall blocked the view. They didn't get to see the tower until they emerged from one street and found a wide-open grassy lawn that led from a river on their right to an impressive old looking building long ways to their left. After that, it was easy to know they were going in the right direction, and they were able to follow the road they were on straight to the tower.

It took them longer to find Emma and Dan than it did to walk from the French Ministry to the tower. The large numbers of people there due to it being the start of summer made the task way more difficult than it needed to be. Once the kids had found Hermione’s parents, the four of them took a taxi to another part of the city and checked into a hotel. After an early dinner at the hotel's restaurant, Dan and Emma turned in early after a long day of travel, leaving Harry and Hermione to relax in their room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *translation.  
> "Welcome to France, you are the 2:50 from England, correct?"  
> yep, that's us. It's good to be home.”  
> "let's get you and your children through immigration then you can go home."  
> "My apologies, I just assumed that you were a family. But either way, we still need to get you to immigration and to sort out the paperwork."
> 
> Thank You to my beta PHINEAS for his efforts to make my attempts at English readable..and thank you to muffin who helped with the French. You are both amazing!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> re-uploaded with corrections

**Chapter 3**

If Harry thought shopping with the Grangers during the Boxing Day sales was a chore, he still would rather have done that five times over than one day shopping in Paris with Emma, Hermione, Sarah, and Alison. Harry knew Emma and Hermione didn't normally go this crazy with shopping, and given the looks that Steven was giving his two girls it wasn't normal behaviour for them either. However, something about the group of them being together in Paris had created some type of monster.

The day had started out calm enough. Harry and Hermione had been woken from their beds by Emma knocking at the door, followed by a calm breakfast of coffee and french pastries. Harry was just finishing his second croissant when Hermione jumped up from the table and threw herself at a group of people who had just walked in, pulling all three of them into hugs that were soon followed by that weird French air-kissing greeting with the two women that Harry had heard about but hadn't seen until now.

Dan and Emma, after watching Hermione's exuberant greeting for a few seconds, went to greet the man and two women that Hermione was hanging off. Harry guessed that the man was Steven the chef that she had told him about, who had moved to France to learn French cooking and had stayed after meeting a woman whom he married. Harry trailed behind the two older Granger's feeling awkward. 

"Steve! Sara! Alison. Long time no see." Dan said.

He was pulled into a hug by Steven as he said, "Dan my man. How's everything going? The patients still biting?"

"Only the little ones. You stopped slicing open your fingers instead of the meat yet?" The two had the banter of old friends who easily fell back into old habits with each other.

While that was going on, Emma (after also doing the cheek kiss with the two women) was talking with Sarah; unfortunately, they were using a mixture of English and French that Harry just couldn't follow, but the two seemed to be getting along. Hermione was talking to the younger of the two women, excitedly catching up. Harry was left awkwardly standing a little apart from them while they were all caught in greeting each other, but it gave Harry a chance to take in the three.

Steven was a light-haired stocky man, who looked like a rugby player that had let go of himself a little. The two women were obviously mother and daughter, they both had long straight brown hair and matching eyes, and they also both had the build of runners. If Harry had to guess he would say the daughter was about 16-17, so she was probably in whatever the French school system had instead of comprehensive school.

After a few minutes Hermione got around to introducing Harry to everyone. "Harry, this is Uncle Steve, you remember I told you about him moving to France when we went to the Skinners Arms?"

Harry shook the man's hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you Mr…?"

"Tucker but call me Steve. No need to stand on ceremony."

Hermione continued. "This is Sarah. She met Uncle Steve when she used to go to the restaurant he was working at."

"It's a pleasure madam." 

"Please call me Sarah. Any friend of Hermione's is a friend to us." It was a little awkward for a second as Harry automatically went to shake her hand and she went to do the French air-kissing thing. After a quick double air kiss Harry was introduced to the youngest of the Tuckers.

"And this is Alison." Hermione beamed.

"It's Ali." She said before Harry could say anything. This time Harry was better prepared for the kissing but considering Ali's giggle he didn't get it quite right. "You English you are never prepared for 'la bise'."

"Uncle Steve, Sarah, Ali, this is Harry, my best friend and boyfriend." Hermione finished.

"Bonjour."

"Nice to meet you."

"Enchantée."

They switched to a larger table and the seven of them sat and finished their breakfast. When the Tuckers got some breakfast, Hermione took the opportunity to get herself a third croissant while Dan good-naturedly grumbled about her teeth. Over breakfast the topic of conversation turned to their plans for the day, which could be summarized with one word. Shopping. 

Because Harry and the Grangers hadn't had the opportunity to go shopping for holiday clothes between getting home from school and then leaving for their holiday, it made some sense to Harry that they would need some new clothes. However, listening to the two older women plan, they definitely were looking for more than they could wear in a month, let alone the ten days that they were staying in France. By the time they had hit their fourth store, Harry understood. They weren't just shopping for their holiday; they were doing the type of clothes shopping he had done with Hermione last summer, getting most of the clothes that he would be wearing for the next year. Only they weren't shopping for just him this time, but all seven of them.

It turns out that the Tuckers lived in Nice, which was where they were all going tomorrow. Originally it was planned that they would meet the Tuckers there, but when Emma had told Sarah on the phone that she planned a shopping trip in Paris first, the plans had changed and the shopping trip from hell was born. It wasn't completely terrible, though. While on one hand he had tried on an ungodly amount of clothes that he apparently had to model for the woman because his opinion wasn't good enough, he also got to see Hermione model just as much for him.

**_\---ϟϟϟ---_ **

Harry collapsed on his bed almost as soon as he was in the room. He was all types of exhausted. He was physically drained from all the walking and carrying of bags. He was mentally drained from all the decisions asked of him, such as Hermione asking him his opinion between two items of clothing she was considering for herself when he honestly didn't have an opinion.

Lastly he was emotionally wiped out from a fight he had had with Dan and Emma. Harry had tried to get the receipts for his clothes because he fully intended to pay the Grangers back every penny for them. Dan and Emma had taken offence to that idea and the three of them had had a fight over it once the Tuckers had checked into their own hotel room to wind down for a while, before the two families went out for dinner.

From Dan and Emma's point of view, they were the adults responsible and money wasn't a problem for them, so they would pay. Harry, however, was adamant that he didn't want to be a burden on them. They had already done so much for him when they opened their home to him, they didn't need him taking their money as well. Hermione had been caught in the middle.

In the end Emma had done something Harry had never experienced before: she pulled the "I'm the mum" card. She hadn't used the word mum but it was implied and she told Harry he was to keep his money for after he was done with school. She said he wasn't going to spend his inheritance on living until he was an adult and responsible for his own finances. From now on, just like Hermione, they would be buying his clothes, books, and school supplies. Harry was going to be treated like a regular teenager and he would just have to get used to it.

The whole argument had left him feeling confused. He was so used to being made to take care of himself that it was easy to forget that most thirteen-almost-fourteen-year-old children didn't need to do that. He didn't know what he was supposed to do. Hermione came into the room they were sharing and after putting her bags on her bed sat down next to Harry.

Hermione broke the silence after almost a minute. "Hey." 

"Hey."

"So that was a little rough."

Harry snorted at the understatement.

Hermione relented. "OK, it was very rough. How are you feeling?"

"I don't know.” And he really didn't, the whole thing was so confusing to him. “Are your parents still pissed at me?"

"Harry I don't think they were ever angry at you to begin with. They are upset with the situation, not you. Mum made a good point Harry you are fourteen-

"Not till a week next Sunday."

Hermione laid herself on the bed next to him. As it was a single, they were touching in a few places. "Close enough Harry. You're fourteen, you shouldn't have to worry about money like that. Most people our age just need to worry about budgeting our pocket money."

Harry slid over to the side of the bed giving Hermione a bit more room. "I don't want to be a burden on your parents. They have already done so much for me, I don't want to become a parasite just bleeding your family dry."

She frowned. "OK Harry stop that talk now. That's not you, that's your uncle talking and you know it. Both my parents have high paying jobs, and until now only me to pay for. I don't know the ins and outs of my parents’ financial situation, but I know enough that they don't need to worry. They aren't rich but we are comfortable.”

“But they shouldn't have to spend their money on me. I can pay for myself. It's not fair on them." Harry wanted Hermione to understand. "It just feels wrong to take their money."

Hermione went quiet for a few minutes thinking before she replied. "You aren't taking their money though. They are choosing to spend it on you. That's what families do Harry, they look after each other. And that's what you are now, family. That means we help each other. Sometimes you are the one being helped but sometimes you are also the one helping us. Just think of all the times you helped me; you saved my life from that troll-"

Harry interrupted "You saved me as well."

Hermione continued "You stayed with me after the Polyjuice incident-"

"That you were only in because I was accused of being the Heir of Slytherin."

"Nope. I'm a Muggleborn, I was in danger already. I wanted to help myself as well as you. You helped me with my furry little problem."

"Yeah, because I love you and you needed help."

Hermione smiled. "That's my point exactly, Harry. You just need to remember help goes both ways. Mum and dad want to help you. It's now your turn to be helped."

"I doubt they want to help me anymore after how I shouted at them."

Hermione pulled Harry's head onto her chest and started to gently run her fingers through his mop of hair. "Oh Harry, if you think a little tiff like that is going to change anything, you really don't understand family at all."

She looked a little embarrassed as she continued. "I once had an argument with my parents that lasted weeks, all because the other kids in school got to eat so many sweets and I wasn't allowed any. I was screaming at them every chance I got for days over wanting sweets. You shouted at them for ten minutes because you wanted to pay for your clothes instead of leaving them out of pocket. Trust me everything is going to be fine."

The two of them laid together for a while without saying anything, taking an hour to recharge.

**_\---ϟϟϟ---_ **

Harry and Hermione left their room dressed for dinner. Hermione had instead that they dress up, so Harry was wearing a dark sports jacket despite the heat while Hermione was wearing a light blue summer dress. Hermione disappeared into her parents’ room looking for her mum, while Harry was left standing in the room's sitting area with Dan."

"Hey Dan," said Harry awkwardly as he remembered the fight from only an hour ago.

"Hey kid, how are you doing? Calmed down now?" Dan asked.

The question was gentle and not accusatory but it still made Harry feel terrible. "Yeah. I'm uh - sorry for earlier, I shouldn't have shouted at you and Emma like that. The two of you have done so much for me you deserve way better from me. I understand if you want me to move out."

Harry was babbling on until Dan put a hand on Harry's shoulder. "Harry, it's OK. You’re not going anywhere. Yes, you weren't the best behaved earlier, it's not OK to shout and scream like that. At least unless something really big is happening." Harry felt even more guilty but Dan carried on talking.

"However, Emma and I didn't exactly handle it well either. Once the two of us calmed down, we were able to look at it from your point of view. And while we are right about the money, teenagers shouldn't have to worry about money like that, it was inevitable that you would feel like you were taking advantage of us and you would try to fight back."

"But I don't want to be a parasite on your family's finances." Despite Hermione's words, his uncle's old description of him came easily from his lips.

Dan looked Harry over and gave a small nod as if he realized something. "Harry you need to understand something. You are a person, not a burden, and in no way a parasite. Emma and I know how to manage our budget, you don’t need to worry. Now let’s just agree that we were all a little out of line, we are all sorry, and all three of us will try to do better in the future. Is that OK with you?”

Not really knowing what to say, Harry just nodded.

"Good, well now that that is all sorted out why don't we get a move on." Harry jumped at the sound from behind him and found Emma and Hermione both standing behind him ready to Leave.

"We are supposed to meet the Tuckers in the lobby in…" Emma checked her watch. "Seven minutes." She finished off.

"Emma I'm sorry about earlier. I should not have shouted at you like that."

"It's nothing Harry. Sometimes families fight. It happens, we forgive and move on. Let’s go before we are late."

The four of them left the room and made their way towards the lobby, where they were expecting to meet the Tuckers. However, the two families bumped into each other on the stairs and continued down together.

Steven picked the restaurant, as he had an old colleague who was working there and he wanted to check in on how she was doing. Harry was a little surprised when they got to the restaurant because they were seated at a table on the street instead of inside the building. However, seeing how everyone else just accepted it, he assumed that was just one of the things they did in Paris.

Once they were seated and a server had taken their orders, they sat chatting as they waited for their food. Mostly the conversation was about their day shopping, until Alison broached a new topic.

"So Harry, how did you meet Hermione then?" she asked before she took a sip of wine. While her accent was definitely French, she didn't have the problem pronouncing the H at the beginning of words that TV had taught him to expect.

"We go to the same boarding school. We shared all our classes for the first two years and still share most of them." Harry answered.

"And the two of you became firm friends instantly, I bet?" Alison smiled, obviously picturing some love at first sight scene.

"Nope, Harry and I didn't become friends for almost two months." Hermione answered while munching on a breadstick.

"Yeah I was a total ass for the first two months." Harry looked sadly at his lap, still a little guilty that he hadn't stopped Ron from bad-mouthing her.

"He wasn't that bad. There were a few that were but Harry just sort of didn't get involved."

" _ All it takes for evil to succeed is for good men to do nothing _ ," Steven quoted. All the Tuckers were now focused on Harry, but he just nodded in agreement.

"So how  _ did _ you become friends?" Sarah asked.

Hermione decided she would answer this question. "Well I was alone using the uh… facilities in a part of the school away from everyone else. It was Halloween, so most students were at the school's Halloween party. A stray dog got into the school. The teachers moved all the students to the common rooms so they could deal with the dog, but I didn't know about it and neither did Harry. Harry found me cornered by this dog that was bigger than I was, and he saved me by making the dog chase him instead. Then I stopped the dog chasing Harry, and when it turned back to me Harry jumped on it and managed to accidentally knock it out. After that, we were friends," Hermione explained.

She was using the same explanation that Harry had given to Hermione's grandmother Jean. Harry and Hermione had talked once Jean had gone home, and he filled her in on his alterations in their story. Hermione had agreed that it was as close to the truth that they were likely to get, when telling their story to non-magical people.

" _ Mon dieu!  _ You were attacked by a dog? Are you OK?" Alison seemed so worried about Hermione that she forgot that the incident was about two and a half years ago.

"Calm down Ali. It was ages ago, and I didn't even get bit. Don't get me wrong, it was scary as hell while it was happening, but I was completely fine."

The conversation continued for a while. Harry and Hermione talked about how the two of them got together, as well as a few things that had happened since. Hermione changed her potions accident to a case of flu, to cover why Harry was sitting with her in the hospital wing over Christmas.

Ali found Harry reading to Hermione while she couldn't read to herself was brilliant. "It shows that you paid attention to Hermione. You know what to do to make her feel better. That's better than some uh…ignorant bloke?” Ali stumbled over the phrasing in English.

"Typical bloke." Steven helped her.

"Thanks Papa, better than some typical bloke who thinks that a bunch of flowers fixes everything."

Harry was uncomfortably reminded of the fight he and Hermione had had earlier in the year. When Hermione had barely been talking to him, he had sent flowers then. Hermione wasn't the kind of person who appreciated flowers. Books yes, sugar quills definitely, even if she would never admit it. Tracey had pretty much said the same thing about flowers. Flowers said that you don't have any better ideas.

Ali continued chatting with Harry and Hermione most of the night. Harry learned that Ali also attended a boarding school, she was in her final year and was hoping to start learning medicine once she graduated, and like Hermione she loved books. Ali was actually similar to Hermione in a lot of ways. They both had an act now type of personality once they had decided that something needs doing, and they both had a similar sense of humour. It was easy to see how the two got on as well as they did.

Not that Ali was a copy of Hermione, in some ways the two were very different. While Hermione was more introverted and preferred smaller groups of people, from the stories Ali was telling she was more comfortable being in large groups of her friends. Another difference was that Ali apparently loved to look her best as often as possible, whereas Hermione was always careful to look presentable but didn't bother with really dressing up unless there was some type of occasion.

Dinner continued for a while as Harry got to know the Tuckers. Steven was interested in the fact that Harry could cook and the two spent a good twenty minutes swapping recipes and cooking tips. Harry enjoyed getting some recipes and cooking tips from an actual chef.

As well as Harry got on with Ali and Steven ( _ call me Steve _ ), he didn't quite click with Sarah. He didn't know why, Sarah hadn't been rude or anything, and she hadn't said anything that rubbed Harry the wrong way. On the contrary, she had been polite and friendly. However, Harry couldn't quite slip into easy conversation with her like he could with her husband and daughter.

**_\---ϟϟϟ---_ **

Hermione bit her lip in indecision while Harry changed in the bathroom but nodded to herself as she came to a decision and sat cross legged on the foot of Harry's bed, waiting for Harry to get back. It took Harry a few minutes as he not only needed to change but to brush his teeth a little extra. When he came back into the room, Hermione saw the look of surprise that flashed over his face for a moment before his face settled into a more neutral look.

Hermione could understand that, she was wearing a new pale blue night dress that was quite a bit more appealing to look at than the thick pajama bottoms and spaghetti-strap crop top she wore to bed while they were at Hogwarts. She and Ali had picked it up earlier; the male half of the group had been sent off for a while to do something else while the women visited a couple of shops that were women's specialty.

"Harry, can we talk?" Hermione tried not to sound nervous but doubted she pulled it off.

Harry stiffened almost like a rabbit caught in the headlights of an oncoming car. "Uh OK. Have I done something wrong?"

Hermione inwardly cursed; this was exactly why she had been putting off this talk. She didn't want Harry to get the wrong idea. "No! You haven't done anything wrong. I… I just… I have kept a few things from you and I need to be honest with you."

Harry relaxed visibly but Hermione felt her tension reach new heights. He sat on the bed as well, there was no room next to her so he sat in front of her, mirroring her crossed legs and facing her. "OK, well whatever it is, I bet you have a good reason to keep it to yourself till now."

"Well, first is…" Hermione hesitated for almost 5 seconds before she continued. "I'm bisexual, Harry, that means I like boys like you, but I also like girls, and I don't want you to misunderstand, I still love you but I don't want to keep this from you anymore." Hermione only stopped the run-on sentence because she ran out of air and needed to take a deep breath.

Before she could continue Harry started talking. "Mione, calm down a bit. It's OK, as long as you haven't cheated then I don't care if you also have a crush on someone else. It happens," he looked a little uncertain for a second before he steeled himself. "I notice other girls occasionally, but I still love you and want to be with you. So you notice both boys and girls, it doesn't matter. What matters is if we are both happy together. Anything else is nothing compared to that." He watched her looking for her reaction.

When Harry mentioned noticing other girls Hermione's first thought was anger. But Harry was right, noticing other people was normal. She couldn't get upset with Harry for that when, if she was honest with herself, she did the same. Harry was right. If they were happy nothing else mattered. And it seems as far as Harry was concerned that includes if she also likes girls.

Hermione practically leapt at Harry, pushing him onto his back and into the bed and enveloping him in her arms as he fell backwards. She could feel some of the tension she had been carrying for so long flowing from her shoulders. She pressed herself into Harry and started to kiss him. She could feel herself waking up, her fear of Harry breaking up with her at hearing about how she also likes women replaced by relief and a little lust. Harry tried to put his arms around her as well, but her arms were wrapped around the top of his so he could only move them below the elbow. All he could do was put his hands on her hips.

"Hermione, you said there were multiple things you needed to talk about," Harry said when she broke the kiss for air.

At first the words didn't hold any meaning to Hermione. She was too focused on kissing Harry to understand much. "What?"

"As enticing as this is, trust me a part of me hates me right now for stopping you, you said you had things we need to talk about. We only talked about one thing."

Hermione let out a groan of frustration. Harry was right, and considering how she felt right now, she needed to have the conversation with Harry now before she pushed too far too quickly. She climbed off Harry, feeling her tail flicking back and forth in its sock. She would have taken it off when she got ready for bed, but her new sleepwear didn't have accommodation for her tail so she had had to keep the sock on.

She pushed Harry over and laid down next to him. It wasn't like when they were 12-13 in the hospital wing, where the two of them could easily fit on a single. Nor were the beds in the cramped Parisian hotel anywhere near as big as the four poster beds in the Gryffindor dorms. While the two of them fit side by side, there was no room to move at all.

"You’re right, there is something else that we need to talk about. It's going to be embarrassing so don't interrupt me till I'm finished." Hermione went on to tell Harry about the aspect of her transformation that she had kept secret from as many people as she could. She told him about going into heat, how up until now she took potions to suppress her lust and why she had had to stop. To his credit, Harry didn't once interrupt her. He just took hold of her hand and held it while she talked, both of them staring at the ceiling above them.

"So, what do you want to do about it?" Harry's question was like Hermione’s explanation, blunt and to the point.

Hermione could understand that. If Harry's face was blushing as red as hers felt right now, being charming was probably beyond him right now. "Well, it sort of depends on you, Harry, how do you feel about taking our relationship to the next level?"

"I don't know. It's a big step. A part of me is all for it, but then that part of me never seems to want anything else. What would we do if you got pregnant? We don't have jobs or any way to make money. I may have joked about it in Gringotts last year, but I know that the money my parents left me won't last long past paying for my Hogwarts tuition and books. Though it will probably go further now, because your parents are paying for my books and clothes. But if there was a baby to pay for, it wouldn't last long at all."

Hermione wasn't surprised that Harry thought about kids first, with his desire for a real family of his own. She was glad though that he could see the downside as well. "I'm taking a contraceptive potion every cycle; it's 99.9% effective and I have some for you as well. Although the one for guys only lasts thirteen days, it's 99.9% effective as well, so there's only about one in a million chance I'd get pregnant."

"You got potions for me too?"

"I want to have kids someday Harry, but I definitely want to finish my N.E.W.T. exams first and I'd like to get a mastery as well. So yes, I got you potions as well so that if we…we… if we start having sex I don't get pregnant until we are ready."

"Is it something you are ready for?"

"I think so. The Kneazle that the hair came from was an adult, so it pushed that part of me to be more mature. Not older, just further along with that stuff."

"How long until your next..." he didn't need to finish the sentence for her to understand."

"Not until after your birthday so you have some time to think about it." Hermione tried not to be disappointed that Harry didn't just jump to wanting to make love to her. It was a big thing to decide.

"I love you Mione, I don't need to think about it. I just need a bit of time to get used to the idea. It's a big change."

Hermione squeezed his hand that was holding hers. "Love you too Harry."

"Now that I'm thinking about our relationship, isn't it a little weird? I mean considering how old we are. I'm not even fourteen yet but we've been together for a long time. Don't most teenagers have much shorter relationships?" Harry voiced his thoughts.

"It's not common but it does happen. Why? Are you thinking of breaking up with me?" Hermione asked. She was trying for light-hearted joking with the question, but something in her tone said that Harry's answer mattered more than she wanted to admit.

Harry sat up and pulled her up until she was sitting next to him and he pulled her into his arms. "Hermione, listen to me for one second. I do not want to break up with you. Never have, and I'm starting to think I never will. I love you with everything that I have. I promise you I was just thinking about how unusual our relationship is. Just because something is different doesn't mean I want it to end. You are the best thing in my life. A bright warm light in a world that is far too full of the cold and the dark-"

Harry was cut off by Hermione as his mouth was suddenly occupied by hers. Harry had said so many wonderful things, now she was going to continue where she left off before the second embarrassing conversation of the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry, this chapter took so long I don't really have an excuse I just haven't been writing much because I got hooked on a few fics I was reading and some computer games.
> 
> for everyone who has been following me complaining about toothache and not being able to sort it during Carona well I finally have an appointment to see my dentist crossed he can do something about it because I think it needs drilling and my dentist can't do that during Carona (something about flying bits of infected tooth and saliva) honestly right now I wish I could just jump in my fic and go see the doctors granger, lol
> 
> Help pay my dental bill? - PayPal.me/lowten86


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

The next day was spent travelling. Steve and Sarah took Dan and Emma in the morning to a rental car place so that they could rent a car for the week. Nice was quite a ways south of Paris, and Dan took the first shift driving, following Steve and Sarah's car. They stopped a few times throughout the day for food and bathroom breaks, as well as to give the adults a chance to switch drivers. They would often swap who was in which car as well. The only rule seemed to be that one of the Grangers drove the rental car while one of the Tuckers drove theirs.

At one point it was just him, Dan, and Steve in the Tuckers' car. The women had apparently wanted to talk without any “testosterone-laden Neanderthals interrupting”. At least that was how Ali had put it. And so the women, being the larger group, had taken the slightly bigger rental car.

“So Harry, it was nice of you parents to let you come to France with the Grangers, considering they can't get to see you much,” Steve probed for information while they were stuck in a stretch of slower moving traffic.

Harry saw Dan wince and prepared himself for the look of sympathy he got whenever people learned about his parents. “My parents died when I was little.” Harry watched as the predictable emotions crossed Steve's face: surprise, regret at saying anything, and finally settling on the sympathy he had seen for as long as he could remember.

“Sorry, I didn't mean to drag up painful memories.”

Harry shrugged. “It happens. Don't worry about it.” It had actually been a while since he had had to explain that his parents were dead. There had been a couple of explanations as to how it happened like with the Grangers, but ever since he had gone to Hogwarts people already knew about his parents.

“I'm still sorry, Alison's birth father died when she was young. Dr- you know what, it's not important what he died of, he just got sick and didn't pull though. And I know how much it hurts Ali when it's brought up around her.” Steve told Harry as he moved the car forward at a crawl barely faster than walking speed.

Wanting to change the subject Harry cast around for a topic of discussion. “So, Steve...what was it like moving to another country?”

The change in topic was awkward but no one said anything. 

“Well, I learned my French was nowhere near as good as I thought it was, and I learned that filling out government forms in a language you aren't perfect at is a thousand times more annoying than filling out the English ones. But it's been worth it, not just because I met Sarah and Ali, but I'm now fluent in French and I love living on the Mediterranean coast. The weather is nice, but it's the pace of life that really suits me. Compared to London, Nice is just far more relaxed.” Harry could see Steve's face in the car mirror and watched as a smile spread slowly over his features as he talked about his home.

The rest of the drive was fine, albeit long and boring. Eventually, the two cars finally pulled up outside a hotel in the south of the city, just a short walk from the coastline and beaches. The three teens unloaded the suitcases from the cars, Ali helping Harry and Hermione while her parents talked with Dan and Emma. They loaded the suitcases full of new clothes onto a trolley, and Harry was left to follow everyone while he pushed luggage along. Once they were inside the hotel the Tuckers disappeared into the hotel bar/restaurant to wait for them to finish checking in.

“Ah the Granger family, welcome back, it's been a while!” The clerk behind the counter flashed a smile at Dan, Emma and Hermione before he turned it on Harry as well.

Hermione leant in and whispered to harry. "We stay here when visiting Nice. Uncle Steve works in the hotel's restaurant. It's convenient."

“Before I check you in there has been a slight problem. We had you booked into our last family room, but due to a maintenance issue that room became unavailable last night.” Harry watched as Dan and Emma exchanged disappointed looks.

“Do you have anything else available?”

“I can offer you two couples rooms if that works for you, no extra charge for a valued repeat customer. Or I could call around other hotels around here and see if they have a family room available.”

Emma looked back at Harry and Hermione with a resigned look on her face and sighed before she accepted the two rooms. 

Harry took the luggage to the lift when they were given the keys to their rooms. He half-expected Dan to insist that it would be boys in one room and the girls in the other, but instead Emma gave one of the two keys to one of the rooms to Hermione.

"The two of you will have to share one key, we are keeping one of them so we can check on you as needed." Emma indicated herself and her husband when she said “we” leaving no doubt what she meant.

The two rooms were on the same floor, directly across from each other. The one on the south side of the building had a lovely view of the Mediterranean sea and the northern side had a view of green mountains. Dan and Emma invoked adult privilege and took the southern room with its sea view leaving Harry and Hermione to take the other.

**_\---ϟϟϟ---_ **

Harry sat at the desk in his room back in London. They had gotten back from France the day before, and he was busy penning a letter to Tonks

_ Hey Tonks, _

_ Sorry I didn't write earlier, but considering that Madam Bones helped the Grangers set things up you probably already know I was out of the country. On the off chance you didn't know, I was on holiday in France with the Grangers. _

_ Dan and Emma told me and Hermione when we got home from Kings' Cross and we left the next day. Hermione and I portkeyed to Paris in the afternoon and we met up with her parents, who had left earlier in the day to get there by muggle means. We didn't do much that day, but Hermione and I enjoyed a nice walk through the streets of Paris as we made our way from the French Ministry to the Eiffel tower where we were meeting Dan and Emma. _

_ We spent the night in a cramped little b&b in Paris that was fine apart from the lack of space. The next day we met up with some old friends of Dan and Emma's, the Tuckers. Steven Tucker is English and knew Dan and Emma from a while back, but he moved to France a number of years ago and stayed when he married a French woman. We spent the day shopping in Paris - no, the women spent the day shopping in Paris; Dan, Steve, and I spent the day being dragged around being forced to play dress-up doll and pack mule. _

_ I grumble, but it wasn't so bad. It was good to see a smile on Hermione's face after what happened at the end of the year. I know everyone was all smiles for a few days after the Dementors were removed, but quickly after that the reality of what happened to us set in and Hermione and I were down in the dumps for a bit. _

_ Our third day was pretty boring, just an eight-hour drive from Paris to Nice. Hermione and I had our own room in the hotel because there was a problem with the room that the Grangers booked... _

_ - _

Harry paused his writing and smiled as he remembered the nights that he and Hermione spent together in Nice. The two of them hadn't done anything more than they had before, despite what they had talked about the night in Paris. Apparently Hermione hadn't thought to bring a potion for him with her, and despite her already being protected they had agreed to be as safe as they possibly could. But even with that restriction on what they did, every night was like one of their most recent date nights.

-

_ So once we were in Nice it was brilliant. Dan and Emma had a great system where we would relax one day, then do something energetic the next. We arrived too late to do anything on Tuesday so we just had dinner with the Tuckers again and relaxed around the hotel. Wednesday we went and visited a few museums, but not the history ones like I had to visit a few times when I was in Muggle school. These ones were full of paintings and sculptures. I wasn't that interested in them honestly, but Hermione seemed to love them. _

_ Thursday was amazing. Ali (the Tuckers' daughter) had booked an amazing day for us. She, Hermione, and I went scuba diving in the Mediterranean. Dan and Emma came as well, but they didn't feel like diving so they just had a lazy day cruise, sunbathing on the boat and drinking freshly squeezed orange juice. Sarah and Steven were working so couldn't join us during the days, instead joining us most evenings when we went out for a meal. _

_ Hermione, Ali, and I spent the first hour listening to an instructor telling us how to use the equipment so we could breathe underwater. I was a little apprehensive as I had never learned how to swim, but swimming with flippers is really easy. Being underwater in the Mediterranian was amazing. The instructors who dove with us had these bottles of bread mixed with water, and at one point they took them out and squeezed out the bread and water mix, and hundreds of small brightly coloured fish swarmed around us eating the bread. It was awesome. _

_ - _

He actually had photos as the guide had a cool underwater camera and took a picture of each of the divers surrounded by the tiny fish.

_ - _

_ The next day we spent the morning in what I can only describe as a massive greenhouse. It's called 'Parc Phoenix' and it's mostly a botanical garden, but they have animals there as well so I guess it's also part zoo. After lunch, we spent the rest of the day just wandering around the city just looking around the shops and stuff. _

_ Then, on Friday the Tuckers took us to a beach, only it wasn't in Nice nor even in France, but in Italy. According to Ali, the beaches in and around Nice always get full of tourists and you just can't relax properly and the nearest beach that doesn't get full is about 45 minutes drive from Nice just inside Italy. Ali was shocked when Hermione pointed out that because Ali wasn't a fan of the tourists on the beach in her hometown, her solution was to be a tourist on someone else's beach. The look on Ali's face was priceless. _

_ - _

Harry's smile spread over his face again. While he had kept his t-shirt on to hide the scars on his back and the still fading marks from LeStrange's attempt to brand him (explaining those marks would have put to much of a damper on the good mood), Hermione had no such restrictions. While she was wearing a one-piece and a sarong, a combination that concealed all traces of her tail sock, she was wearing what had to be the skimpiest one-piece he had ever seen (not that he had seen many). Hermione seemed to take great delight in having Harry rub suntan lotion into every inch of her exposed skin, only quietly lamenting her disappointment that Harry had to keep a shirt on when she returned the favour.

_ - _

_ Saturday was different. Dan and Emma wanted to go and look at the old churches, apparently Emma likes the old architecture. Hermione thought that it sounded boring, and if I am honest I agreed with Hermione; the thought of looking at old buildings just didn't speak to me. After Hermione talked to Dan, the two of us were allowed to spend the day with Ali instead. She showed us what local teenagers did instead of all the touristy stuff. We mostly just ended up in a few cool stores that are out of the way of the main streets that you could only find if someone knew the area. _

_ Dan and Emma's flight back to England was nine am the next day, so we drove back to Paris overnight. Hermione and I were lucky enough to be able to sleep in the back of the car for most of the trip. Our booking with the French Ministry for our portkey wasn't until midday though, so Hermione and I got to hang around Paris by ourselves for a few hours. Dan and Emma gave us the last of the francs and told us to go nuts; apparently the commission on changing francs to pounds is just not worth it. So Hermione dragged us to a café for breakfast.and then we took a trip to the top of the Eiffel Tower. It was an amazing view and Hermione loved it. _

_ The return trip to London by portkey was just as bad as the one we took to get to France. Wizard transport is quick and convenient, but can't they come up with something comfortable? Even brooms are fun but can be a pain after a while. Even leaving France four hours after Dan and Emma, we got home first. And there was one thing we missed in France: a good cup of tea. A few of the cafés had tea on their menus but it just wasn't quite right for some reason. _

_ So how was your week? Anything interesting happen? Make any noteworthy arrests? _

_ Now I just need to convince Hedwig to deliver this letter, she wasn't happy with me for leaving her behind while we went to France. _

_ Sincerely, _

_ Harry _

Harry put the letter in an envelope and, after putting Tonks’ name on the front, placed it with the simler letters he had already written to Neville, the twins, Tracy and Daphne. Harry looked over to the perch that was again set up in his room after it had been set up next to the kitchen window down stairs during most of the year. Hedwig was perched there, pretending to ignore him.

“Will you please deliver these for me?” he asked. Hedwig looked at him for a second before she swivelled her head to look at the wall behind her. Her meaning was clear enough, she was still upset with him. “Look, I'm sorry, OK? I promise next time I'll try and see if you can come as well.”

Hedwig shifted her feet around, and Harry could see he was getting through to her. “How about I cook you up a nice fresh piece of bacon before you leave?” He tempted her. Hedwig was definitely interested now, she turned her head back to look at him and clicked her beak twice. “Two pieces of bacon?” Hedwig hooted at him to say yes.

He sighed and held out his arm for her. “Come on then, two pieces of bacon for my gorgeous girl.” Hedwig flew to his waiting arm and nipped at his ear affectionately.

Harry picked up the letters and walked downstairs. Hermione was in the kitchen fixing Crooks his breakfast of tinned sardines and milk while she listened to the radio, swaying her hips in tune to the beat. Unlike last summer, where a similar sight had stalled Harry’s brain, this time he just walked into the kitchen and said, “Morning, love.”

Hermione smiled at him. “Hey, you’re up late.” She continued to dance a little as she mashed up the sardines.

“I was up early, actually. I’m still working an hour ahead on French time, but I had a few letters to write.” He held up the bundle of mail before putting them on the table and moved Hedwig to the back of a chair, placing a towel on the chair first to protect the wood from her claws. Then, he pulled out the frying pan and the bacon.

“Bribing your girl again?” Hermione asked on seeing the bacon.

“Nope. My lady of the snow has learnt a new trick. Extortion.” Harry faked a put-upon demeanour that got Hermione giggling. Harry put two pieces of the cured meat in the pan and set it to low heat. He was just about to look into fixing himself some breakfast when Hermione pulled him into a dance. The song that was playing had changed, and it must have been one of Hermione’s favourites as she was singing along with the radio

Children behave  
That’s what they say when we’re together  
And watch how you play  
They don’t understand and so  
We’re running just as fast as we can  
Holding on to one another’s hand  
Trying to get away into the night   
And then you put your arms around me and we tumble to the ground  
And then you say  
I think we’re alone now  
There doesn’t seem to be anyone around

Harry got caught up in Hermione’s rare silly fun moments. The two of them danced together for a few minutes until the song ended and Hermione, timing her actions to the song, wrapped her arms around Harry’s neck and pulled him onto the ground, where she proceeded to snog him silly.

**_\---ϟϟϟ---_ **

Meanwhile in Scotland, Dumbledore was recovering from his week-long transformation. Despite the aches and pains he was still suffering as a side effect of permanently reducing his age, he felt better than he had in decades. He examined himself in one of the larger mirrors he had around his office. He normally used them to spy on the classrooms, an ingenious addition to the school by Phineas Nigellus Black when he was headmaster so that he could perform his reviews of the teachers without having to leave his office. Of course, Headmaster Black used it to watch the teachers to make sure that they never said anything positive about Muggles or Muggleborns.

Now, though, Dumbledore was using one for its intended purpose as he examined his appearance. He was lucky that someone in their hundred and teens looked not much different from someone in their late one-forties. At least, when he had his robes on. Under his robes he could detect that his muscles and skin, while far from youthful ( _ At least for now _ , he chuckled to himself), there was a definite improvement. His skin was more elastic and his muscles had regained more of their lost definition. He wouldn’t need to worry about anyone noticing yet, though he might have to be careful with his next dose. If he remembered correctly it was in his second teens that his beard finally faded from gray to pure white, and while it was still white now it probably wouldn’t be after his next treatment.

He wished he could take another dose now, but it was impossible. More than one dose in three months would put the body under too much strain and would probably be fatal. By the time he could take another dose, the school year would have started again and he would be too busy to take a week off. Plus, there would be too many people around that could notice the changes.

He sat down at his desk and started going through the mail that had accumulated during his week of recuperation. Most of it wasn’t worth reading, in his opinion. A few parents were still complaining about the Dementors around the school. He had written a form letter for those, directing the parents to complain to Minister Fudge, as it was his decision to surround the school with the foul things and it was Dumbledore who had refused them access to the school.

There were boring procedure letters from the Wizengamot that contained a bunch of useless information that was sent out to all members of the British wizarding world's governing body. He would probably only read the agenda for the upcoming autumn equinox session in September; as it was his job to chair the meeting, he needed to know what was going to be talked about. Normally, as Chief Warlock he set the agenda for the sessions, but the equinox and solstice meetings were different. All the other warlocks had to do was send notification about what they wanted to talk about to the Chief Warlock’s office and it would be allowed. The solstice and equinox meetings were a sort of cleaning house for leftover business, and some of the warlocks were getting their intentions in early.

There were a few letters complaining the tuition was too expensive, mostly from old pure blood families with more than enough to pay the 1000 Galleons a year that Hogwarts charged. One, though, was from Molly Weasley. Dumbledore had more sympathy there, but not much. Arthur was a magical law enforcement division head under Amelia Bones, and as Chief Warlock he had seen the salary reviews for the Ministry. Arthur made a decent wage that would cover the family easily if Molly hadn't insisted they keep trying until they had a girl. If they had just stopped at three children they would have been more than fine. It would also probably help if Molly got over herself and got a job. There was a legitimate case up until almost two years ago when young Ginevra had come to school, but now that she wasn't homeschooling her children in the basics she had the time to earn a few gallions herself.

Dumbledore kept going through the mail until he came across one from Bartemius Crouch. It seemed that he had gotten Karkaroff to agree to the damned Triwizard Tournament and that it would be going ahead. 

From then Dumbledore was kept very busy with the preparations for the tournament, portkeying between France, the British Ministry, and directly to Durmstrang because they refused to reveal its location. This was apparently for the protection of the students; however, Dumbledore suspected it was more because if a country didn't know the school was inside its borders, then they couldn’t try and claim jurisdiction over the school. Merlin knew he had to fight every year to keep the British Ministry from sticking its nose into Hogwarts business, and it was getting harder. Last year Madam Bones had gotten a rotation of Aurors into the school, and now he was going to have to host this tournament starting on Halloween.

Dumbledore was so busy it took him over a week for him to notice that one of his instruments had stopped working. It was a thin silver tube that regularly sent out puffs of colourful smoke. The colour of the smoke would tell him the condition of the wards around the Dursley residence. If the wards were strong then the puff would be white, but it would get progressively darker as the closer the wards he had placed there came to collapsing. Now the device was inert, with no smoke puffing from its tiny chimney. That could only mean one thing, no one with magical talent was living at Number Four Privet Drive. That annoying brat hadn’t done as he was told or as he had promised and returned to his family.

In a fit of blind rage, the old wizard drew his wand and blasted the silver pipe, destroying it and sending the shrapnel careening into the wall. He stood there watching the smouldering wreckage for almost a minute as he was filled with self-righteous anger before he forced himself to calm down. Destroying his office wouldn’t do him any good, he had to think. He vanished the device remains, along with the pile of splinters that were all that was left of the table that had supported the ward monitor.

Dumbledore sat back at his desk, popped a lemon drop from his desk drawer into his mouth, and swept the sweet around the inside of his mouth as he went over his plans and decided what needed to change so that he could get his optimal outcome. He briefly considered taking the matter before the Wizengamot but rejected the idea. While he could probably get Harry taken from the Grangers because they were Muggles, there was no way they would send the boy back to the Dursleys. Longbottom would have the strongest claim in the Wizengamot; Augusta would use the fact that her daughter-in-law was well known to be Harry’s godmother, and as Longbottom was an old pureblood house the Wizengamot would fall in line.

The biggest opposition would be the old Death Eaters faction, as they would likely try and take the boy for themselves. There was some merit to that idea, the boy certainly wouldn’t be treated well with those people. But it was too unpredictable, and there was always the possibility that one of the more brutish among them would kill off the boy before he fulfilled his purpose. No, it was better to leave him where he was, at least for now.

The boy would be safe enough with the Grangers. None of Tom’s sycophants would be able to find someone in the Muggle world. Only Severus and Tom had the needed information to navigate through the millions of people who called Britain home. Severus was his now, there was no doubting that, and Tom was still licking his wounds from his last encounter with the boy. With LeStrange on the loose, it probably wouldn’t be long until Tom was back in the country, but that would probably take a few months. Dumbledore had the time to wait until Harry was back in school before he did anything.

Was he doing the right thing? He wasn't sure; maybe he should reconsider. Dumbledore walked over to the cabinet where he kept his important memories and poured one into his pensive. He watched as a ghostly image of Sybill Trelawney formed from the mists of memory

_ the one with the power to stand against the darkness approaches...   
_ _ born to those who stood steadfast before him  
_ _ born as the seventh month dies...   
_ _ and the one leading the country to darkness will mark him as his equal  
_ _ but he will have power the Dark Lord' can’t stop ...   
_ _ he marked will live his life balanced on the edge of a knife  
_ _ For even as he stands against the darkness it may take root in his own soul  
_ __ the one with the power to stand against the darkness approaches, born as the seventh month dies... 

He nodded, his resolve firming up once more. Dumbledore had seen what his inaction had done with Tom. He wasn't going to make that mistake again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N
> 
> The description of the scuba diving trip is heavily based on my own experience scuba diving in the Mediterranean. The only real difference between my experience and the one in the fic is that I already knew how to swim and my trip was from Turkey, not France. There was however someone on that trip who admitted to me he had never been swimming before. Which I thought was rather crazy or a lie at the time, but I wanted Harry and Hermione to have a good holiday.
> 
> The description of Molly's employment that Dumbledore takes in this chapter is my own opinion. Whatever the reason, the Weasley family was poor enough that buying their kid a wand was too difficult, and they left Ron with a hand me down. So money was definitely tight, but why didn’t Molly get a job once Ginny went to school. What the hell did she do all day? During book two, three and four the only people who were at the Burrow were Molly and Arthur.
> 
> My guess at a tuition fee for Hogwarts of 1000 gallons comes out to just under £5000 British pounds per student. Yes, this isn't cheap but when you consider that it doesn't just pay for schooling but lodgings, food, laundry service, any potions the students might need (from headache and pepper-up's to potions to help the girls with their monthly issues and preventing an epidemic of teen pregnancy. (Because at a mixed birding school full of teenagers I bet it's more of a when most of them start having sex not if)
> 
> The point though, is that when you add it all up £5000 per student that covers their education and most of their living expenses for a year is quite cheap. But the Weasley family has three or four kids in Hogwarts at any one time. So they must be paying £15000 to £20000 a year for their children to attend the school.
> 
> So if we give me Weasley a division head salary of 6000 gallons a year. (almost £30000) you can easily see that 4000 gallons a year on school really eats into their budget. And if Molly had gotten off her ass and had taken some financial responsibility for her kids even a low skilled part-time job would probably get her 1500 gallons a year and that would go a long way into improving the family finances.
> 
> On the flip side though once the twins leave Hogwarts the family finances would be fine if Mr Weasley was still a division head.
> 
> TL/DR  
> Blame Molly for her family being poor for a decade and a half.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Harry was awoken by the feeling of someone landing hard on the bed next to him. Before he could do anything, he was trapped with his arms held to his sides. His eyes cleared enough that he could see the face of an angel, surrounded by a halo of curly brown hair illuminated by the bright sunlight that was shining through the south-facing window. A smile spread over Hermione's face stretching her lips. Harry just had enough time to marvel at her cute smile that was helped by her overbite when those same lips were suddenly on his own demanding all his attention.

After a few minutes of kissing that definitely would make it to Harry's top ten favourite ways to be woken up, Hermione broke the kiss. "Good morning birthday boy! How are you enjoying being fourteen?" She grinned down at him having rolled on top of him while kissing.

"Well so far it's been great!" He grinned up at her then wrapped his arms and one of his legs around her and flipped the two of them so that Hermione was underneath him. He waited a few seconds to give her an opportunity to protest if she wanted, but Hermione just put her arms around his neck and pulled him down into another kiss.

Harry pressed his lips against hers and the two were quickly lost in a fever of tongues and hormones. Their tongues pushed against each other in a quiet battle to see who's mouth would be explored, but Hermione quickly relented and practicly sucked Harry into her mouth. Hands were soon seeking their favourite places, Hermione's were rubbing against his chest feeling what passed for muscles on Harry's skinny frame, Harry's hand seeking its way under the baggy t-shirt that she was wearing and rubbing one of Hermione's breasts.

The two teens wordlessly encouraged the other to go further with moans of appreciation and pressing themselves together, but they were suddenly brought back to reality with the sound of the front door closing and Emma's shout up the stairs of "Hermione! Harry! Breakfast is ready!"

Harry rolled off of his girlfriend who whined in disappointed loss, causing Harry to look at her, only now seeing just how dishevelled she looked. Hermione grumbled about her mother's timing as she pulled down the t-shirt that Harry recognized as one of his. In fact, it was the one he wore yesterday.

Hermione noticed what he was looking at and shrugged. "I got used to sleeping next to you in Nice. The smell helps me sleep." Hermione tried for nonchalant but Harry knew her well enough to know she was feeling a little defencive about forgetting to change and being caught out.

"I didn't say anything." Harry grinned. "But now you bring it up…" Harry drew out the sentence teasing her a little. "I think it looks better on you than it ever did on me."

Hermione picked up the pillow from Harry's bed and tapped him around the head with it for teasing her causing Harry to laugh.

"Get dressed, sounds like mum decided to cook breakfast." Hermione gave Harry a quick kiss and left the room to return to hers so she could get dressed. Harry opened his trunk to the wardrobe compartment. There was a normal wardrobe he could use, but he didn't see the point of moving everything from his trunk when he was used to living out of the trunk anyway. He pulled out a pair of jeans and a green t-shirt and pulled them on. Then, he ran a brush through his hair, but that was because it was getting longer and he needed to be careful to prevent tangling it, rather than any hope of styling it. Harry waited for Hermione outside her room and the two of them went down to breakfast together.

Dan had left for work already. He was taking a half day while Emma was taking a full day off for Harry's birthday. Hermione had told him it's what they used to do if her birthday fell on a day she didn't have school. One of them would go into the office and take care of any patients that were in pain or needed urgent treatment, but all the routine checkups that would have been on that day were given another appointment. While Dan had gone to work, Emma had taken it on herself to make a nice breakfast, something she didn't often have time to do. The two teens joined Emma downstairs, eating something Harry had never heard of: eggs poached in a spicy garlic-flavoured crushed tomato sauce with toast. Apparently one of Emma's dorm mates at university had taught her the recipe.

While they were enjoying the meal that Emma called “shakshuka”, a number of owls arrived at the kitchen window. Hermione let them in and collected the mail. There was a letter for both Harry and Hermione from Hogwarts, but Harry also had a couple of letters from other people. Harry opened the Hogwarts letter first as Hermione went from calm to anxious as soon as she saw the letters with their results.

_ Dear Mr. Potter, _

_ Congratulations on advancing to your fourth year of magical education at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed the results of your recent end of year exams and your book list for the upcoming year. _

_ Enjoy your holidays, _

_ Deputy Headmistress _

_ Minerva McGonagall _

_ \--- _

_ 1993-1994 results for Harry J Potter  _

_ Passing grades: O (Outstanding), E (Exceeds Expectations), A (Acceptable) _

_ Fail grades: P (Poor), D (Dreadful), T (Troll) _

_ Ancient Runes: O _

_ Astronomy: E _

_ Care of Magical Creatures: O _

_ Charms: O _

_ Defence against the Dark Arts: O _

_ Herbology: E _

_ History of Magic: E _

_ Potions: A _

_ Transfiguration: E _

_ Special project: concealment accessories _

_ First Judge Professor B Babbling's assessment: E _

_ Second Judge Professor M McGonagall's assessment: O _

_ Third Judge Professor S Snape's assessment: P _

_ Overall grade: E _

_ Special project: wand rings _

_ First Judge Professor B Babbling's assessment: O _

_ Second Judge Professor M McGonagall's assessment: O _

_ Third Judge Professor S Snape's assessment: A _

_ Overall grade: E (see enclosed note for more information) _

Harry pulled out another sheet of parchment that he hadn't noticed at first.

_ Mr. Potter, _

_ Professor Babbling asked me to add this to your results. Professor Babbling feels that Professor Snape's judgement of your work was rather on the harsh side and you deserve an outstanding for your overall mark. Because of this we looked into other options and found one to give you additional recognition for your work. Professor Babbling and myself have applied for a magical patent for your rings in your name.  _

_ This means that regardless of the grade it will be recognised that you, at the age of thirteen, have created and produced a product that meets the standards to make it sellable. This patent would also mean that your creative property (in this case the rings) are protected from being manufactured and sold without your written approval. _

_ You should receive the certificate the same day as this letter. _

_ Hope you are enjoying your summer, _

_ Professor M McGonagall _

_ Head of Gryffindor _

There was also a list of books he would require for the year.

_ Fourth year students will require: _

_ The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 4 by Miranda Goshawk _

_ Practical Self-Defence by Frances Bats _

_ Runic Translations - Uncovering Ancient Magic by Griselda Griffiths _

_ An Apprentice's Guide to the Art of Brewing by Hector Dagworth-Granger _

_ Fourth year students and up will also require a set of dress robes suitable for a formal evening. _

Hermione had finished reading her results a while ago and it was taking everything she had for her not to grab Harry's results before he finished reading them. Once Harry finished reading them and noticed Hermione nervously staring at the paperwork in his hands as if they held her own grades, he exchanged his results for hers and looked over her marks.

_ 1993-1994 results for Hermione J Granger _

_ Passing grades: O (Outstanding), E (Exceeds Expectations), A (Acceptable) _

_ Fail grades: P (Poor), D (Dreadful), T (Troll) _

_ Ancient Runes: O _

_ Arithmancy: O _

_ Astronomy: O _

_ Care of Magical Creatures: O _

_ Charms: O _

_ Defence against the Dark Arts: E _

_ Herbology: O _

_ History of Magic: O _

_ Potions: E _

_ Transfiguration: O _

Hermione had gotten eight Outstandings and two Exceeds Expectations, and Harry suspected that Hermione's potions grade was unfairly graded as normal, so probably nine O's and just one E. That was an amazing achievement.

Before Harry could congratulate Hermione, however, she beat him to the punch. "Harry, these results are amazing! You did so much better than last year. You have four outstandings and another six exceeds expectations!" Hermione was just about to hand his grades back when she saw the note from professor McGonagall.

Hermione read it quickly then screamed in excitement. "My god! Harry this is amazing! Mum look at this!" Hermione passed Emma Harry's results then threw herself on him. "That's such an amazing achievement, Harry I'm so proud of you!" And she pulled him into one her signature rib-cracking Hermione hugs. Hermione's excitement was infectious and a grin spread over Harry's face and he returned Hermione's hug with just as much enthusiasm. Harry himself couldn't believe that Professor Babbling thought his work was worthy of this type of recognition.

"Well done Harry!" Emma interrupted his and Hermione's celebration. Harry was a little surprised and embarrassed to see that while he and Hermione were being overly excited teenagers, Emma had pulled out their reports from last year and she was comparing them. "And well done Hermione. You both have improved on your grades from last year, especially you harry. Hermione, your grades are amazing from what I can work out. That's, what, A’s and two B's? That is a great end of year report. Harry, your grades have more room for improvement but apart from Potions were you got the equivalent of a C it's all A's and B's as well. That's a big improvement over last year. It shows what you can do when you put the work in. I'm proud of you both."

Hermione tackled her mum and hugged her just as she had done with Harry. Harry watched for a few seconds expecting the normal twinge of melancholy and longing he normally got from seeing close family, but it just wasn't there. He was happy that Hermione had her mum to celebrate with.

While Hermione was attempting to squeeze every drop of attention from Emma, Harry started to go though the rest of his mail. There was a certificate of patent from the Ministry of Magic's Patent Office that was part of the Experimental Magic Department. There was some documentation with it that outlined exactly what the patent covered. It was all rather technical and boring but it basically said no one could make his rings without his permission and it outlined exactly how he needed to word a document to give someone permission to create and sell them if he wanted to. Harry had a few ideas about that but they would need thinking on before he did anything.

The next letter he got was from the twins, who wished him a happy birthday and stated that the Weasleys apparently had tickets for the final of the Quidditch World Cup. They wished him a good summer and said that they would see him in September. There was also a letter from Uncle Moony that wished him a happy birthday and a present: a book on practical joke jinxes that according to Uncle Moony had been a favourite book of his father's when he was at Hogwarts.

If Harry had thought that he could spend his birthday just relaxing on the sofa and watching a bit of TV, he was mistaken. As it turns out, Hermione had plans, and she refused to reveal what they were. However, it was obvious that it was going to be fun, as she couldn't keep the mischievous smile off her face when she picked up her old school rucksack that was stuffed full with something while looking at him.

It took two buses to arrive at their first location: the cinema. Harry had told Hermione that he had never been to see a film in the cinema during the Christmas break when the two of them were watching Christmas films on the TV in the Granger's living room. Hermione had apparently remembered that (even though Harry hadn't) and decided that for his birthday she was going to change that.

There were six screens at this cinema, and normally this would give them a lot of choices; however they were limited by their age and the choices available. Two of the screens were playing films that were not age-appropriate, and one was playing something that was the third film in the series and neither Harry nor Hermione had seen the fist two. Another one was a romcom that Harry thought Hermione would push for but she said, "I already read the book, the film is never good once you read the book. If you want to see it we will, it's your birthday, but I'm not going to push for it."

In the end, they settled on watching the live action Flintstones film. While Harry had never gotten to sit and watch cartoons at Privet Drive, he had seen enough of what Dudley watched to know the characters and the basic idea of the film. Hermione had gotten them a large bag of popcorn to share and a couple of drinks that were bigger than any drink Harry had ever had before. The two teens spent the next hour and a half laughing at the film.

Once the film was finished Hermione led them to a small place to grab lunch. "Mum and Dad are planning food for later, so no point in having a heavy lunch and spoiling dinner." Harry took her advice and got a chicken salad with a sweet chilli dressing. He wasn't too hungry anyway after breakfast and the popcorn. Hermione got herself a chicken salad but opted for a honey mustard dressing. As they sat eating their food the two amused themselves by recapping their favourite parts of the film.

Harry thought they would go back home after lunch, but Hermione seemed to have a different plan. The bus left them in a more industrial area with large warehouse stores that sold things like tools and DIY supplies. Harry was led through the maze of buildings by the hand, and they were soon outside a large building with a lot of neon lights outside. Their lights didn't do much in the summer sun, but the lights combined with the name 'Danger Zone!!!' in bright cartoonist lettering was enough to tell Harry that the last thing they would find inside was a DIY store.

'Danger Zone!!!' seemed to specialise in entertainment for teens. There was an arcade, bowling alley, and more importantly for Hermione's plans, a laser tag arena. "I thought laser tag would speak to you more than bowling." She grinned at him before she leaned in and quietly said, "With all the crazy stuff you do playing Quidditch, it should be right up your alley."

"What about you? You don't like Quidditch, so wouldn't it be more fun for us to bowl?" Harry asked. While laser tag sounded fun, he wouldn't have fun if Hermione was miserable; he loved that she would do it but he would enjoy it more if they were both having a good time.

"I have a problem with heights, and while laser tag isn't my go-to I'll have plenty of fun. That is, unless you are afraid that I'd kick your ass?" Hermione taunted him a little before she headed off towards the laser tag registration desk, adding an enticing sway to her hips as she walked. Harry couldn't ignore a challenge like that and followed, thinking about how Hermione might actually be perfect.

The two of them joined other groups of random players for a few games. The arena was dark, most of the walls and floors were painted matte black. The black made the neon paint on the walls stand out sharply under the blacklights that were everywhere, illuminating not only the graffiti-like art but the plastic armour the players were wearing.

After Hermione's challenge, the two of them were on different teams for the first few rounds. Hermione must have done this before, because their first round went overwhelmingly in her and her teams’ favour, with Hermione killing Harry three times compared to Harry getting her once, much to the friendly ribbing of the other teens who were on Harry's team. The second round was more even as Harry got used to the game, and by the third the odds had shifted to Harry's favour. After that, the two of them were on the same team and together they dominated the other team. The two of them were able to just trust that the other would watch their back, something that the other players (who were mostly strangers to each other) couldn't do.

After about six games the two of them were exhausted and sweaty. Hermione got them both an orange juice from a vending machine and the two relaxed getting their energy back. Hermione's rucksack contained a full change of clothes for each of them, so after a quick trip to the facilities the two of them returned looking a lot fresher and more comfortable.

After that the two of them went home. Harry's first hint that there was something going on was that they didn't return by bus. Instead, Hermione opted for them to take a taxi back, which was faster but quite a bit more expensive. There was obviously a deadline time that they were supposed to be back by.

The London black cab pulled up outside Hermione’s home and dropped them off. When Harry went into the house he couldn't see or hear anyone, so he called out. "Dan, Emma, you home?"

"Out the back Harry, I thought we would fire up the barbecue!" Harry heard Dan call out. Harry, like any Brit, liked a good barbecue, even if when he lived with his relatives he only got a few cheap sausages whenever his uncle pulled out the grill in the summer.

Harry stepped out into the small area the Grangers hours had for a garden and was greeted by an explosion of sound.

"SURPRISE!"

Harry was stunned; it wasn't just the Grangers. Neville was there, along with Tonks, Daphne, Tracey, a well dressed middle-aged woman and a small girl whom Harry had never seen, but both bore a strong resemblance to Daphne so probably her mother and little sister.

"I. Uh… Wow guys, thanks." Harry was a little stunned, nobody had ever done anything like this for him.

Hermione walked up behind him, kissed him on the cheek, and said "Happy birthday Harry."

Daphne, Neville and Tracey came rushing over. "Hey Harry, happy birthday." Neville delivered his birthday wishes with a genuine smile on his face.

"You too, for yesterday." Harry returned the greeting. He had sent a letter with Hedwig for Neville's birthday, not knowing that he would see him so soon.

Tracey gave Harry a quick hug as she delivered her birthday greetings, and Daphne, while more reserved than her girlfriend, still seemed happy as she gave her greeting. Tonks came over next and also decided to give Harry a hug, only this one was quite a bit longer than the one Tracey had given him. Her hair today, resembling a mound of pink candy floss, ticked Harry's nose. "Hey kiddo. How was France? I mean I know what you said in the letter but you left out all the juicy bits."

"Hey Tonks. France was fun, don't know what you mean by juicy bits though." Harry gave his cousin a cheeky grin.

"If you don't tell me I'm sure Hermione will," Tonks sent a grin right back at him and pulled Hermione off to one side.

Next, Daphne introduced Harry to her mother. "Harry, this is my mother Laurel Greengrass, and the brown-haired monstrosity next to her is my little sister Astoria."

Harry half-bowed to the woman as was custom in the wizarding world, at least among purebloods who were a sticker for tradition, which according to Daphne her mother was. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Lady Greengrass."

"The pleasure is mine, Warlock Potter, though I'm not Lady Greengrass yet. My husband is still Heir Greengrass not Warlock, so it's just Mrs. Greengrass for now, though I would prefer if you called me Laurel."

"Then I must insist you call me Harry." 

"Ok then Harry-" only she was cut off from continuing by Astoria, who had been glaring at her sister for the monster crack before jumping into the conversation.

"Hey, Harry, nice to meet you. Don't listen to my sister, if either of us is a monster it's her." She punctuated the last word with a clear jab at her sister before she continued in a loud stage whisper. "She's a jam monster. She eats all the strawberry jam straight out of the jar. With a spoon."

Daphne's cheeks turned pink as she got flustered. At Hogwarts, Daphne had the reputation as the unflappable Ice Queen, but Harry knew that it was a mask. He had seen it crack a little once when Daphne and Tracey had fallen into the classroom he and Hermione had been waiting in. Just falling might have been bad enough, however the fact that she had her tongue down her girlfriend's throat had been enough to shake the unshakable. Compared to that, eating the strawberry jam straight out of the jar like that was nothing, yet Daphne was reacting stronger to this story. It seemed little sister Astoria had a way of getting under her sister's skin like no one Harry had ever met before.

"I'm gonna get you for that…"

"Daphne." Laurel didn't raise her voice but it was enough to get Daphne to calm down.

"But mum, she shouldn't be talking about me like that."

"You started it by calling her a monster, and if you don't want anyone finding out about your strawberry jam addiction perhaps you should just eat it normally. Now, both of you need to remember we are guests right now, so I expect better from both of you."

It was at this point Astoria remembered that Harry was right there and with a touch of pink to her cheeks the younger girl gave a slight bow to Harry. "I'm pleased to meet you, Warlock Potter. Please excuse my sister and I.”

"It's an honest pleasure, Miss Greengrass. And please call me Harry." Watching Daphne fluster like that in such an innocent way was rather amusing, in a way that it wasn't when Harry and Hermione had found out about her relationship with Tracey.

"Astoria." The younger girl asked him to refer to her.

The afternoon was relatively relaxed. Dan manned the grill and churned out burgers and chicken, and Tonks had done a bit of magic so that the smoke from the barbecue went straight up for about 10m before it got taken by the wind, instead of filling the garden with smoke.

Laurel had relaxed a lot once the formalities were dealt with and she chatted with Harry for a while. The conversation was a little boring, as the two had very little in common and with their very different backgrounds they saw the world differently currently. Still, Laurel was nice enough.

In contrast to her mother, Harry learnt very little about Astoria. This was mostly to do with the fact that the young girl was more than a little starstruck with Harry. Unlike Ginny, who got embarrassed and couldn't say anything when they first met, Astoria proceeded to ask Harry question after question, leaving little room for him to ask questions about her. Astoria had wanted to know everything about Harry from his favourite dessert to what he planned to do after Hogwarts.

While Harry was chatting with the two Greengrass women, Hermione was chatting with Daphne and Tracey. Harry didn't know what they were discussing, but the three of them were whispering conspiratorially and giggling. Well, Hermione and Tracey were giggling, Daphne just sort of had an amused smirk. Whatever it was they were talking about, Harry expected it to involve him somehow. The three of them were being very careful not to look at him, but more importantly Hermione was giggling. Hermione was not a giggly type of girl, she was more the type of girl who had a full laugh, unless it involved Harry. He didn't understand it, he just noticed that it was a thing that happened. So given that Hermione was giggling with their friends and it was his birthday, Harry suspected that Hermione was planning something else and was telling the two girls about it.

He finally was able to get away from Astoria and immediately joined Neville and Tonks, who were talking next to the table Dan and Emma had set up with salads and drinks. Tonks was telling Neville about being an Auror, and Neville was hanging off her every word. Harry could understand after what he learnt about Neville's parents last summer, about how Neville’s father had been an auror before that bitch LeStrange had left Neville's parents permanently in the hospital. Neville was probably picturing his father going through all the little things Tonks was talking about. Not the big things that were obvious, but the struggle to fill out the parchment work after a job, or the struggle to find a good cup of tea when you had five minutes to take a breather.

When the two of them spotted Harry coming their way, the two of them wished Harry a happy birthday again. Harry asked Tonks about her work as well so that they could pick up where they left off. It was interesting hearing about the day to day at the Ministry. On paper, the Ministry was just like any government department; it existed to enact and enforce the laws of the people who decided them. The only big difference was that most governments had totally separate organisations for different branches, whereas the British wizarding world just had the one Ministry and separate departments for each branch of the law.

It made some sense to Harry, the British wizarding world was small compared to the country as a whole. And as such, each department handled a lot less than its Muggle counterpart. It made more sense to organise into one body with such small numbers. In practice, though, from the way Tonks described it, it was more like chaos. People played favourites, fought over who got credit for something with their higher ups, and enough backstabbing existed that it surprised Harry that it could run at all, especially adding in the heavy dash of blood politics with people of 'pureblood families' having preference in promotions. After only ten minutes of listening to Tonks, Harry didn't think that he would ever want to work for the Ministry, at least not the Ministry as it currently was under Minister Fudge.

Once that conversation had been exhausted, Harry asked after Neville's summer, which was going very well. His grandmother was proud of him for going with Harry to save Hermione, and apparently Madam Longbottom was not one to show how proud she was of someone often. Neville also showed off his new wand.

"Cherry and unicorn hair. Gran wasn't as keen on me using Dad's old wand anymore after she learned it was now loyal to that woman." Neville gushed over his new wand but almost spat out the last two words. "I got to try out the wand in the shop. Ollivander’s wand shop is one of the few exceptions to the Decree of Underage Sorcery outside of Hogwarts. And the spells I tried were a lot easier to cast." He sounded excited that his magic would be easier.

"That's great! What about your results, what were they like?" It really was great to see what Neville could do with a boost to his confidence, and a new wand would give him that.

"Mixed. Gran has given me a pass on the wand subjects this year after learning that the problem might be my wand, but she expects improvement next year. As for the non-wand subjects, I even got an O in Herbology and Care of Magical Creatures, but Gran is definitely not happy with my Potions grade." Neville looked dejected as he talked about his Potions mark.

Hermione and the girls had come over by this point and Hermione joined the conversation. "Neville, I wouldn't put much stock in your Potions grade if I were you. Professor Snape never marks Gryffindors fair. Your grade is probably higher than you think."

Daphne looked disbelieving. "I know he isn't fair to you Gryffindors in class, we have all seen him, but surely he marks your exams fairly?"

Hermione quickly excused herself and rushed into the house to get hers and Harry's exam results from the kitchen table, returning a few seconds later. "OK Daph, you say Professor Snape would mark us fair. You have seen mine and Harry's work enough, how would you expect our grades to be?" 

Daphne looked a little taken aback by the question but gave it some serious thought. "Well, Hermione your potions are nearly always perfect, your grade would be Outstanding. Harry, your potions have picked up a lot this year, so I would say Exceeds Expectations, maybe even an Outstanding if you got lucky. Neville, no offence but you are not great at potions, so I would say a poor grade."

Hermione looked triumphant. "Then how did I get an E while Harry got an A? What did he give you Neville?."

Neville looked a little angry now. "According to Professor Snape my potion work is at the same level as a troll. He gave me a T."

After the shock from the Slytherin girls subsided, the conversation turned to exam results. Both Daphne and Tracey had gotten an O on their Ancient Runes exams, much to the approval of their parents. Daphne also had an outstanding in Arithmancy and Potions, while Tracey got one in Care of Magical Creatures. They were all impressed with Harry's four O's but were blown away by Hermione's eight.

Harry was just about to join in the conversation when he was suddenly made the centre of attention. Dan was walking out of the house with a cake lit with two candles shaped like numbers that together formed a fourteen. Soon everyone was singing Happy Birthday and getting Harry to blow out candles. Harry was embarrassed at being the centre of attention but happy too; he couldn't remember ever having a good birthday before. In fact, they had gotten worse the older he got. This was the opposite, he was being celebrated by people who were genuinely happy to know him, not the Boy-Who-Lived, but Harry.

Once they were done with the cake it was apparently time for presents. Neville went first, he had gotten Harry a new set of Seeker’s gloves. Daphne and Tracey had together gotten Harry a bottle of cologne that Harry thought smelled OK, the only word he could think of to describe it was smoky but that wasn't quite right. Harry grinned at the predictability of Hermione when she handed him a wrapped package that was obviously a book. He tore off the wrapper and saw that indeed it was a large book, one bound in fancy brown leather. However, there was no title on the cover, so Harry opened it to find out what it was, only to find his own face staring back at him with Hermione right next to him.

The next few pages had a few more pictures of mostly the two of them, alongside a few pictures of Daphne, Tracey, Neville, Dan, and Emma. Still, the book was more than half empty. It confused Harry for about half a minute, until he realised he was supposed to fill it himself. No, not himself, him and Hermione. It was a photo album for him, but it was also an invitation for them to fill it together. The size of the book was a representation of how much life she hoped they would have to fill those pages with.

Harry did the only thing he could think of. He pulled the bushy haired goddess of his into his chest and wrapped his arms around her and held her there. Hermione smiled the whole time, she loved hugs and Harry wasn't one to give out hugs often. Even if he had been getting better at it recently, they were still rare enough that Hermione intended to milk it for as long as she could.

**_\---ϟϟϟ---_ **

Harry had just finished brushing his teeth and was off to bed when he was pulled into Hermione's room as he passed. In his surprise it didn't take much for Hermione to push him onto her bed. She was on top of him almost immediately occupying his lips and tongue with her own. Their tongues did their familiar battle of dominance, with Hermione winning and pushing her tongue into his mouth.

Harry could feel himself getting hard the more Hermione pressed herself into him. Harry's hands started to explore her body, desperate to finish the job that had been interrupted that morning. He slid his hands up her body, delighting in the feel of her curves beneath the bathrobe she was wearing. He moved to untie the belt, only for Hermione to grab his wrists and pin his hands to the bed.

She continued kissing him like that for a bit before she broke the kiss and said, "Not yet, we need to talk first," a gentle smile helping to alleviate the anxiety those words might have caused. She climbed off him and sat next to him. Harry nodded and sat up and waited for Hermione to collect her thoughts. Hermione reached into her pocket and pulled out a box wrapped in the same paper his new photo album had been. "I have another present for you." She handed Harry the box and sat there nervously watching him, her hands wringing in her lap as he opened the present. Like most of Hermione's gifts, this one also came in a nice wooden box, though this was the smallest of them so far, only eight inches wide six deep and four and a half tall.

Harry flipped the catch on the box and opened it. Inside the box were six single-dose potion bottles filled with a pale pink potion that Harry had never seen before. Harry was confused at why Hermione would give him potions, yet there was something in the back of his mind screaming at him that there was something he should remember about this. He racked his brain for a few moments trying to remember when it hit him: the talk he and Hermione had in Paris.

"Mione, are these what I think they are?"

Hermione nodded. "Yes. the male version of the contraceptive potion." She still looked anxious. "With it being your birthday and only a few days until I… well I just thought… I mean if you want to…"

Harry leaned in and kissed her until she calmed down enough to listen to Harry's reply. "If you're sure about this then I would love to.” Hermione was definitely sure. She pushed Harry so that he was laying on his back before she climbed on top of him. She pulled one of the potions from the case that was open on the bed next to them and leaned forward before she poured it into his mouth.

Compete to most potions this one wasn't too bad. It still wasn't nice, but he didn't have to fight this one down like he did most of them. As soon as he swallowed the potion, he could feel something happening down below. It was like someone had filled his sack with ice water, but somehow in a good way. Then the cool sensation was gone. 

"Did it work?" Hermione asked.

"I think so. I definitely felt something in… in a place that makes sense." Harry felt weird still being nervous talking with Hermione about that area, but it didn't stop him from acting that way.

After a quick kiss Hermione sat back up and climbed off of Harry, standing next to the bed. She pulled at the belt of her bathrobe and the robe fell open, revealing that Hermione wasn't wearing anything under it. Harry stared up at her as she shrugged off the pink fluffy fabric.

Harry had never seen her fully naked before. He had seen the parts before, but never all at once and the sight was mesmerising. She picked up the box with the rest of the potions in it and placed it on her dresser. Hermione put an extra sway into her hips as she walked around the room, causing Harry to be captivated by her ass.

"You know, Harry, this might be a little easier if you stopped drooling and took off your clothes as well." Hermione teased. Harry quickly pulled off the t-shirt and boxers, throwing them in the corner where Hermione had dropped her robe. Smiling, Hermione climbed into the bed next to him. There were a few seconds of hesitation from the two teens. Despite the exploring of each other they had done, this was something new and they were both feeling insecure.

Harry took the initiative first and kissed Hermione, trying to tell her in that gesture that everything would be OK and that he loves her. He didn't know if Hermione got the message, but she did stop hesitating. She latched her lips onto his in a kiss that was all instinct and need rather than technique. Hands were everywhere, Harry's hands copping a feel of every curve while he could feel Hermione's hands tracing the lines of his wiry frame.

The two lost themselves in the familiar dance as Harry felt Hermione take hold of his stiff shaft and draw her hand up and down sending pulses of pleasure through him. Harry returned the favour, his hand making its way between her legs and rubbing at the slick folds. The two teens alternated between kissing and moaning in pleasure. Harry tried to hold on until Hermione came, but she turned her thumb over the end of his dick, causing a sudden wave of pleasure and a loss of control as he came all over Hermione's hand.

It was only now, when Hermione grabbed a few to wipe off her hand, that Harry noticed she had a box of tissues on her bedside table. While Hermione cleaned off her hand, Harry redoubled his efforts. She had barely finished wiping off her hand when Hermione was taken over by her own climax. Harry laid down next to her and kissed her. "Ohhh...Harry, that was nice." Hermione was breathing heavily. "Just let me get my breath back a sec then we can…" she trailed off into silence.

The two of them just relax for a couple of minutes enjoying just being together. Then, Hermione got up and straddled Harry, and he could feel his erection pushing against her core. While they had done this before, this time there was nothing between the two of them and Harry could feel her still slick folds sliding up from the bottom of his dick, and it felt amazing.

"Let me lead this time. You just relax and enjoy it." Hermione smiled down at him, rocking her hips back and forth and rubbing her core over his shaft, getting it wetter and wetter with her juices. It made sense to Harry that Hermione wanted to lead for their first time. He had heard it was easy to hurt a girl her first time, and Harry wouldn't want to cause her pain, not in a moment that was supposed to be special.

Hermione raised herself up, then reaching down between her legs took hold of Harry's erection and held it steady as she lowered herself onto it. Harry felt Hermione's pussy open as she slowly took him inside. It was warm, almost feverish and her inner walls were slick with her juices. It felt absolutely amazing. Despite how cautious Hermione was, she seemed to find it pleasant as well; her ears were facing forward and her tail was sticking right up. It had taken Harry a while to understand the relationship between Hermione's cat features and her mood, but they showed that she was definitely enjoying the current situation. That, and the smile on her face was about as wide as it got when she had a bowl of her favourite ice cream or when she got a new book.

Hermione finished sliding down his shaft and rested her weight on his hips and waited. "You OK?" Harry asked, concerned why she stopped.

"Just adjusting, it's really different having something inside me like this, just give me a moment." Once she said that, Harry noticed he could feel her pussy twitching and shivering as she got used to him. After a short wait, Hermione started to shift her hips. She rocked back and forth and Harry felt himself sliding in and out of her, her tight walls caressing his hard dick. He had never felt anything this good in his entire life, not just the physical side, but the fact that he was sharing it with Hermione. There were times he hated his life, but here and now, together with the woman he loved in a place that felt like home, he wouldn't change it for the world.

Hermione moaned in pleasure and started to rock back and forth faster. Without even meaning to, Harry began to thrust up at the same time, increasing the friction and with it the pleasure. Harry was getting close. He wanted to hold on and wait for Hermione, but every moment it got harder to hold off, until eventually he just couldn't hold back and longer and exploded inside her, coming harder than he ever had before.

Hermione rocked back and forth, milking Harry with everything she had. She was so close, but it just wasn't enough and she moaned in frustration. Harry could see that she was disappointed and left unsatisfied, and while he was now too soft to finish the job properly, he pushed through the wave of fatigue that washed over him and pulled her to him. For the second time that night he reached down between her legs. Hermione was soaked with their combined essence, so Harry started to rub. Hermione moaned in his arms until she bit her lip to stop from screaming as she came with more force than Harry had ever seen from her before.

**_\---ϟϟϟ---_ **

For a few seconds the air around them was charged with magic and they could both feel power crackling around them before it faded away into almost nothing. Hermione murmured, "Happy fourteenth Harry."

"Best day ever. Love you." Harry was able to say before the two of them succumbed to the effects of their exertions and fell asleep in a tangle of limbs.

A/n

OK so Hermione went out of her way for Harry to have a good birthday just like he did for her.

I would like some feedback on the last scene. I have never written something like that before, would you readers like more parts like this or would you prefer a more “fade to black” approach? This one was a little important to the story. The magic that shrouded them was actually part two of something and I do wonder if any of you could point to part one. Part one was a lot more subtle.

Either way, I don't intend for this to become a complete smut fic, but a few chapters here or there might have a scene.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone, sorry the chapter took me so long things have just bean a bit slow creatively. But I'm still plugging away and things should pick-up again soon.  
> Remember your comments and criticisms are always welcome.  
> Big props to my beta reader who once again took my weighting that bearly passes for a language and turned it into readable English. Phineas, you rock and I don't say it enough.

**Chapter 6**

Harry crashed into the bed next to a naked and (hopefully) satisfied Hermione. It was two days after his birthday and Hermione, as she had warned him, had gone into heat. He had awoken that morning with Hermione in his bed with him, and she had been  _ very _ clear with what she wanted. As much as that sounded like a dream come true for a teenage boy, Harry was more concerned about the changes that his Hermione had undergone. 

The two of them had talked about it before, Hermione had guessed that she might act a little different and she had told Harry that she wanted him to go along with it. Her words went through his mind. "For one, I like the idea of you and I making love, and two, I need to know if having sex will clear my head if I'm distracted. I need to know, when I'm hit during the school week, if I need to arrange to skip class or if we can  _ sort it out ourselves _ ."

Hermione was both right and wrong. Harry couldn't call what they had done today making love. Yes, it was sex, and as they were both marginally more experienced than they were on his birthday (making it more enjoyable physically), it also lacked something that they had on his birthday. Where Hermione was right though, was the part about clearing her head. After the two of them were finished that morning, Hermione had seemed to almost, for lack of a better term, sober up and returned to her regular more articulate self.

Thinking it was over for the month the two of them, after cuddling up together for an hour, decided to spend the day doing their last piece of homework, Hagrid’s Care of Magical Creatures essay. Harry hadn't expected there to be any summer homework for C.o.M.C; Hagrid wasn't the type of professor that set a lot of homework. Maybe setting summer homework was mandatory or something, as the only class they had that hadn't set any was D.A.D.A. Harry suspected it had more to-do with the fact no professor ever lasted until they broke for the summer.

They were to choose a magical creature and write an essay on what you needed to do to take care of it. Harry had chosen to do his essay on gryphons. He hoped that some of what he already knew about hippogriffs would carry over. Hermione had decided to do her essay on raising firecrabs. Harry had no idea why they were called crabs, firecrabs looked like turtles to him. Well, turtles with six legs and gemstones growing from their shells.

Just as Harry had been thinking about making the two of them lunch, Hermione started to get distracted again. They experimented a little more that day. It turned out that, while in heat, sex would only help "calm" Hermione for about five hours. The two of them had ended up being together four times that day and Harry was embarrassed and tired. The last time was in his room, when Hermione had come in after everyone had gone to bed.

Harry wanted to go right to sleep after that much exercise, but the two of them had learned that lesson on their first night sharing themselves. If you fall asleep covered in a sticky mess, waking up is not the most comfortable. He had woken up Saturday with Hermione's hand glued to a still sensitive part of his anatomy. Thus, the two teens dragged themselves into the shower to clean up before they both collapsed in Harry's bed.

\---ϟϟϟ---

The next week had been a little uneventful, though Harry had started to fill the photo album Hermione had gotten him along with a few long walks on the heath with her. 

On Monday, Hermione left to spend the week with her grandmother, leaving Harry in London and feeling a little down. On one hand he totally supported Hermione spending time with her family, family is important. But on the other hand it left him with Dan and Emma, who were  _ Hermione's parents _ . It was also the longest Hermione hadn't been with him since his thirteenth birthday just over a year ago. The biggest problem was he had nothing to distract himself with. He didn't have any friends in London, he had already done his homework, daytime TV just wasn't worth watching, and all of his hobbies involved magic and were currently off limits. Without anything to distract him his thoughts always seemed to drift back to Hermione not being there.

On a whim Harry grabbed his wallet, both his muggle one and his money pouch that had a few silver coins left in it, and after he checked that Crooks had enough food and water, he left the house. It took Harry four buses instead of two because he got on the wrong bus and was halfway across the city before he realised and switched to one going back. Harry walked down Diagon Alley with no real destination in mind, just looking for something to distract himself with. The shop displays were colourful and eye-catching, but none of what they offered seemed to catch his interest yet.

He came to Gringotts and decided to refill his money pouch while converting some into muggle money. If he mentioned that he needed some muggle money to Dan and Emma they would probably try to give him some, but if he didn't say anything then they wouldn't need to spend their money. Harry then stopped by Fortescue's and got himself a cone filled with strawberry clotted cream* ice-cream. He continued wandering around the shops just browsing looking for something to distract himself. He did pop into a jewellery store for a bit, as Hermione's birthday was in six weeks and he needed to start looking for a gift. As much as Hermione wasn't the kind of woman who wore a lot of jewellery, she always wore the locket he had gotten her for Christmas, so it was worth having a look. There were some nice pieces in there, but they were expensive, and Harry didn't think that they would be appropriate for Hermione's birthday.

As he walked out of the shop, an excited boy who couldn't be older than eleven crashed into him. Harry almost over-balanced but was able to keep his feet, unlike the boy who had bounced off Harry and crashed to the floor. Harry helped the boy to his feet and noticed he was wearing muggle clothes not unlike his own jeans and T-shirt. The biggest difference was where Harry's t-shirt was plain green, the kid’s was black with a large red superman logo on the front.

"Hey kid you alright?" Harry asked as the kid quickly pulled himself together.

Before the boy could answer a stern voice that Harry recognised called out "Mr Creevey, would you please calm down and return to the group!" The boy stiffened and started walking back to the voice before turning back to Harry and saying. "Sorry I crashed into you mister," before scurrying off.

Harry who recognised the voice followed after him and waved to the stern woman who was surrounded by three other eleven year olds and what appeared to be their parents. "Good afternoon Professor McGonagall."

"Mr. Potter, I didn't expect to see you here today. Buying your new books?"

"Not today. Hermione and I are picking everything up next week." He indicated the four children. "New Muggle born first years?"

"Indeed. I'm just showing them and their parents were to get their school supplies."

The two of them continued exchanging pleasantries, and Harry took the opportunity to thank her for her part in filing for the patent. He would have talked more but he could see Professor McGonagall had work to do. "It was nice running into you Professor, I'll see you on the first of September."

"Enjoy the rest of your summer Mr. Potter."

Harry was just leaving when one of the mothers spoke up. "Excuse me young man, before you leave, can I ask you a couple of questions?"

Harry, really having nothing better to do, was happy to answer. As they were a group of non-magical parents, it was actually probable that the questions were about their kids, not the constant attention for him being the Boy-Who-Lived "Sure, what would you like to ask?"

"I don't want to be rude, but I think the answer will affect what questions I can ask. Judging by your normal clothes, are you a...oh what did the professor call it? A mug born?"

"A muggle born?" The woman nodded. "In my case that's an interesting question, because it depends how you define it. Strictly speaking, no; both my parents were magical, even if my mum was a muggle born witch. However, my parents died when I was small, so I was raised by my mother's sister who never developed any magic. In essence, I was raised not knowing about magic, so in a very real way I am a muggle born learning about magical Britain the same time as other muggleborns." A few of the parents looked a little uncomfortable that the woman had brought up Harry's parentage now that they knew they were dead. But Harry didn't mind, the reason for the question was obvious even before the woman started asking questions about what her daughter needed to know about the magical world.

Harry told the parents some of the stuff he had learned over the years that he wished someone had told him. He told them about the Knight Bus, the uncomfortable mode of transportation that could take them anywhere on the main island for just a galleon. He told them about how things like the flu and broken bones could be healed in minutes with magic. And he told them about life at Hogwarts: the occasional feast, watching Quidditch matches, the walk around the lake in the warm weather, and sitting around the cozy fireplace drinking hot chocolate when it's cold.

While Harry was talking with the parents and telling them about life at Hogwarts, Professor McGonagall was showing the new students where to get their school supplies. Harry and the parents followed them as they went from the apothecary to Madam Malkin’s and then from there to Flourish and Blotts. Between paying for the children's things, they asked Harry lots of questions.

_ "How is the school food?" _

"Good but limited, it tends to stick to old school British classics."

_ "How safe is it to learn magic?" _

"I won't lie, accidents can and do happen. Things can catch fire, potions can be mixed wrong, or sometimes you can get knocked out by an object flying across the room. But magical medicine is a lot more effective than modern doctors. In my first flying lesson, one of my dorm mates fell off his broom and broke his wrist. Madam Pomfrey, the school nurse, fixed his arm as good as new in less than an hour. You can't learn magic without some risk, but Hogwarts teachers know how to keep the risks to a minimum and when things go wrong they know how to fix things."

_ "How easy is it for us to keep in contact with our children?" _

Harry explained owl post and how the school had owls that the students could use whenever they wanted. One parent asked about writing to her daughter,and Harry realized that it was all but impossible for a muggle parent to write to their children unless they sent their parents a letter and asked the owl to wait for a reply. Dan and Emma were only able to write to Hermione (and this year himself) so often because Hedwig would fly back to London to see if they had any mail occasionally.

Harry told them about this and a trip to Eeylops Owl Emporium was quickly added to their trip. Not all of the parents wanted to get an owl, but of the four muggle born students two wanted owls. One of the families bought two, one for their daughter to take to school and one so they could write to her whenever they wanted to.

One student, the same boy who had run into Harry earlier, asked his father if he could have an owl, but his father refused. "You can use the school owls just like your brother."

It was then that Harry pieced together the name Creevey with his housemate Colin. "Wait, are you Colin's little brother?"

The boy, who had been more focused on professor McGonagall until now looked at Harry, in curiosity. "You know my broth…" Harry watched his face change from curiosity to recognition. Harry didn't normally experience that change in muggleborns who weren't raised knowing his name and his scar, but Colin Creevey was an avid photographer and had taken many photos of Harry over the last two years. Evidently some had made it back to his home and were shown to his little brother.

"You’re Harry Potter!!! Oh my god, Colin told me all about your story, about how You-Know-Who killed your parents and how you defeated him when you were really young!"

He was about to continue when his father jumped in. "Dennis! That is not the sort of topic you talk about with someone you don't know! How would you like it if someone you didn't know walked up to you and started talking about your mum and how she lost her battle with cancer. Apologize now, then leave Mr Potter alone." The look on the youngest Creevey's face changed from excited, to put upon, then to sadness. Harry felt a wave of gratitude and sympathy towards the man as he chastised his son. Harry thought about how he would feel if he lost Hermione, and how much worse it must be to lose your spouse.

"I'm sorry Mr. Potter, I didn't mean to bring up bad memories." Harry accepted the apology, and the boy went to stand by his father who also nodded an apology for his son's behaviour. After that things were a little bit awkward. The new students were focusing on Professor McGonagall, and the adults (most of whom had also experienced the loss of a family member) didn't want to rub salt in a wound by saying the wrong thing, and so the silence dragged on while McGonagall lead the group to Flourish and Blotts. 

Harry was just thinking he would make his exit go explore the alley more when the mother of the girl with two owls asked, "Do you really need a wand to do magic? My Tiffany has done lots of magic over the years and she never had a wand, and your teacher" she nodded to Professor McGonagal, "she turned herself into a cat and back, and she didn't use a magic wand for that. So does that mean that you can do magic without a wand?"

Harry was grateful for the change in topic and started explaining about how magic mostly responded to emotions, and while wandless magic was possible it was rather difficult, as to do so one truly had to emotionally want the effect to happen. He gave an example of a hungry wizard in the morning trying to summon a bowl of porridge* but accidentally summoning the last of the chocolate cake instead, because emotionally he would rather have the chocolate cake. "The wand, however, is a tool of the will, allowing much better control of your magic." Harry drew out his wand. "Using a spell focus such as a wand means we can choose how and when to use magic." Harry took the paper wrapped from his ice-cream cone and transfigured it into a paper owl that looked a lot like Hedwig. Harry noticed professor McGonagall hide a small smile out of the corner of his eye. "Not that wands are the only way to channel your magic, potions is another way and is a core subject at Hogwarts, and there is runic magic that you can choose to study from third year on. They are good strong options for using magic but they suffer from a lack of versatility with runes, or in potions you need to prepare well in advance for exactly what you need.

"Oh, here's a good example. You see this ring?" He held up his wand-summoning ring for them to see. "This is something I made last year using rune magic. It has one function and only one. Will you hold my wand for a second?" He asked the woman who asked about wands and she agreed. Harry took a few steps back and channelled a spark of magic into his ring and the wand shot back to his hand. "I can use my ring to summon my wand and only my wand. If I wanted to summon anything else, I would need to make another ring. There is a wand spell, that I don't know yet, that can summon whatever you like, depending on how heavy it is and how far away it is. However, once it's made the ring is easier to use." Harry knew he was pushing the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery, but as he had learned when the Ministry accused him of doing magic that was done by Dobby, the Ministry didn't know who cast a spell. They only knew that a spell was cast in the presence of someone who was underage, and as he was in Diagon Alley, where magic was going on all around him, the Ministry wouldn't have a clue.

"But to get back to the original question. Due to the need for a focus, and with how versatile they are, yes you need a wand."

"What about when your professor turned herself into a cat?" The woman's husband asked.

Harry felt a little sheepish, he had forgotten that part of the question. "Professor McGonagall is a special case, she is an animagus. It takes an insane level of skill to achieve but once you do then you can shift into your animal form at will. There aren't even ten people in the country who can do it."

The questions continued while the kids searched the shop for the books their shopping list said they need. Harry was asked about his ring, he was asked about any additional books they should pick up for their kids, and he was asked if it was OK if they contacted him in the future if they had any questions. Harry told the two families with owls that any letters addressed to Harry Potter would find him if sent with an owl, and he gave one family the phone number for the Grangers. The Creeveys had Colin to ask questions of so didn't feel the need to disturb Harry's holiday.

Their questions carried them to Ollivander’s, and while the parents and soon to be first years were looking at wands, Professor McGonagall pulled Harry aside. "Mr. Potter, I just wanted to say thank you."

"It's no problem Professor. I was just wandering around looking for something to do anyway."

" I never thought having a student here to answer parents’ questions would help so much. A large oversight on my part especially given the number of students that are familiar with the muggle world." The Transfiguration teacher admitted.

"Something to look at for next year, it seems like something Hermione would be perfect for." Harry knew that Hermione would jump at a chance to help like that if she was given the opportunity.

"I wish I could give you some house points for how much you helped, but as we are not at school I can't. Where is Miss Granger, if I may ask? I'm a little surprised to see you here, but seeing you without Miss Granger surprises me more."

"Hermione is visiting her grandmother for the week. They don't get to see each other much so I stayed in London to give them some time."

"Ah that explains it. Normally the two of you are joined at the hip." Professor McGonagall smiled as she spoke.

"Not our fault. Even when we are doing different things we tend to be in the same space. Same classes, same library, same common room, you get the idea. I'm a big boy, I can handle Hermione going off for a week. Just wish I had a hobby that isn't restricted by the Statute of Secrecy or the restrictions on underage magic."

"Is that why you were wandering around Diagon Alley? Nothing else to do? I would have thought that you were here to speak with Garrick." She gestured to the man who was now handing wands to Dennis Creevey.

"Yeah, just bored. Why would I want to speak with Mr. Ollivander? My wand works fine." Harry was a bit confused.

Professor McGonagall gave him a look that said she thought he was being a little slow before she spoke. "Garrick doesn't only sell wands, he also sells wand accessories, wand halters, wand polish, things like that. If anyone would be interested in selling a new wand related item such as, say, a set of wand rings, it would be Garrick Ollivander."

Harry realized what his professor was getting at. When he had gotten the patent for his wand rings, even though it had example contracts for selling his idea, he never actually thought about selling his rings. Not because they were difficult to make, now that he knew the rune sequence making more would be easy. No, the reason never thought to sell them was that he thought no one would ever want to buy them.

"Professor do you really think anyone would want to buy them? I don't really see many people needing them. Not unless you get into a lot of fights."

"Well if we just consider the people who get into duels then there is the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and the duelling circuit. But that's not the only people who would be interested, what about people who often lose their wand? Or older witches and wizards who have trouble picking something up off the floor? And never underestimate the vanity of some people, it would give some of them an excuse to display even more jewellery." The sometimes stern witch explained. "It may not make you incredibly rich Mr. Potter, but it's at least a step in the right direction."

Harry carefully thought about what Professor McGonagall said, there probably were more uses for his one summoning ring then he initially thought. He absentmindedly looked over the ring on his right hand, which he hadn't stopped wearing since the evaluation. Hermione was still wearing hers as well, as far as he knew; it had been easy to forget he was wearing it after a few days. He glanced over to Mr. Ollivander, who was just finishing up with the last of the muggle-borns, the young witch whose parents had bought two owls. Harry waited for them to finish buying their wands, and after checking if the parents had his contact info in case they had any more questions, he approached the wand maker.

"Ah Mr. Potter, holly and phoenix feather, 11 inches. I hope everything is ok with your wand?" The wand maker asked.

"Everything is working perfectly fine."

"Good, good. Then what can I do for you? Are you looking for a new wand holster or perhaps a quart of wand polish? You can't ever have too much wand polish."

"Actually I was hoping to get your opinion on something." Harry held out his wand. "What do you make of my little addition to my wand?" He pointed out the ring to the wand maker though he barely needed to, the oak he had used for his wand ring stood out against the holly of his wand.

The wand maker took the wand and examined it. He tested the wand by casting a few spells and the whole time muttering to himself. After a time he turned to Harry. "I can tell you that the ring has almost no interference with the function of the wand, and I can sense that the ring is magical in some way, but that’s it. I can tell the ring is not wand magic. What does it do?"

Harry held up his hand and summoned his wand. The wand snapped to his hand and Mr Ollivander turned to face Harry, an almost hungry expression in his eyes. "Mr. Potter, please do that again."

Harry tossed his wand to the shopkeeper and summoned it again. The look on Mr Ollivander’s face grew more intense. "Mr. Potter, is that ring your own design?" Harry nodded that it was. "And do you hold the patent for it?"

"I do." A look of disappointment flashed over his face for a second but the greedy look returned almost immediately.

\--ϟϟϟ---

Harry sat at the Granger's dinner table across from Dan and Emma as they looked over the contract he had gotten from Mr Olivander. As a minor, he couldn't sign the contract without a legal guardian counter-signing it, and the three of them were going over the details of the contract. The term's were rather straightforward; Ollivander's (the business, not the person) would have exclusive rights to manufacture and sell Harry's wand ring's for the next ten years. Harry could make a limited number to give to people but he couldn't sell them. Ollivander’s was also allowed to use his name as the inventor for advertising and branding purposes.

In exchange Harry would get 40% of the profits from the sale of the rings. Garrick, as Mr Ollivander insisted Harry call him now if they were to be business partners, had argued that he should get the larger portion of the profits, because while it was Harry's design, Garrick would be the one putting in all the work now that he was the one making and selling the rings. Also, Garrick was the one taking the risks; as he was the one buying the materials to make the rings, he would be the one to suffer the loss if they failed to sell. In some ways, that Harry only got 40% stung him a bit, but that he also wasn't at any risk of losing money was a big plus.

"The contract looks reasonable enough. The terms are clear enough and straightforward." Dan said after looking up from the long roll of parchment.

"So you think I should sign it?" Harry asked.

Emma shook her head. "Harry it's not up to us to tell you to sign it. We are just going to make sure that you understand what signing it means. For example, do you realize that if Mr Ollivander chooses to after you sign it he can decide to not make any rings, and without selling the rings there is no profit; 40% of zero is zero and you could do nothing about it?"

Harry hadn't realised that, but now he thought about it Emma was right. There was no obligation in the contract for Ollivander’s to make and sell the rings, only that only Garrick or a person working for him could make and sell them. Harry thought about that for a few seconds. He didn't think that was likely, Garrick had seemed excited to expand his business.

Emma continued. "You need to make the decision for yourself. Dan and I will help make sure you aren't being swindled or tricked, we would stop you if we thought that the agreement needed more from you than you could commit to. For example, you can't afford to spend a hundred pounds a month on a subscription of some type, but this contract doesn't put a burden on you that we feel would be too much for you."

There was silence for a few moments as Harry thought about that. A part of him wished that they would make the decision and make it easy. But that just wasn't the type parenting/guardians they were. They preferred to treat Hermione and himself as adults with training wheels. 

Dan broke the silence "The questions you need to answer Harry are: do you think you will get more out of this agreement than you give up, and do you think you can get a better agreement somewhere else? If  _ you _ think it's the right deal for you, then I'll go with you tomorrow and we can sign the contract. But it's your decision." 

That helped Harry; what was he giving up really? Not much, he wouldn't be able to sell his rings for ten years. However, four of those years he would still be in school, and after that he would probably be working on his mastery or an apprenticeship. It would probably help if he had some gold coming in during that time that he didn't have to put any effort into.

Did he think he could get a better deal with someone else? Maybe, but not one where he could be so hands-off, and Ollivander’s was  _ the _ name in Britain for wands. Just having the rings sold in his shop would say they were good quality. Even if he could get a better percentage somewhere else, he would probably make more with Garrick just by selling more.

With those questions answered the decision was obvious to him. "I think I would like to sign it."

Dan nodded. "Ok good, we’ll go and see Mr Ollivander tomorrow and get the paperwork sorted out."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N
> 
> Clotted cream - Clotted cream is a thick cream made by indirectly heating full-cream cow's milk using steam or a water bath and then leaving it in shallow pans to cool slowly. During this time, the cream content rides to the surface and forms "clots'' or "clouts", hence the name. Despite the name and the unappetizing description of how it is made it is in fact delicious. Clotted cream is served as part of tea and scones where it is liberally spread on the scones. It is sometimes used as a base to make really good ice cream.
> 
> If any of you non-Brits want to try clotted cream then the foodwishes YouTube channel has a good recipe that is very easy to follow
> 
> Porridge - I think Americans call it oatmeal.


	7. a cunning plot

**Chapter 7**

Harry and Dan were seated outside Fortescue's, each enjoying an ice-cream. "Emma would nag us for hours if she knew we were eating ice-cream, ‘way too much sugar’, ‘bad for your teeth’, ‘you’re a dentist, you should set a better example’." 

Harry laughed at his impression of Emma and how much it reminded him of how Hermione would go on about homework. "Worth it though." Harry licked at his ice-cream, the same clotted cream strawberry ice-cream he had the day before. Dan hummed in agreement as he enjoyed his own rum raisin cone. The two of them were celebrating signing the contract. Garrick had lit up when Dan and Harry had walked into his shop, and for almost an hour they went over the paperwork. They reviewed the contract and the patient paperwork, and Harry got to experience a blood quill for the second time in his life.

Once all the paperwork was done Harry gave Garrick the rune array he used and explained how it worked. He explained how the array had an open spot in it that needed to contain a unique symbol that paired the two rings, so that the master ring would know which ring to summon. After that was done, Garrick told Harry about how he intended to go forward. Harry's ring design of a pair of simple wooden rings was brilliant and that would be the basic design that would sell for a few gallions a pair, but Garrick was also going to make a deal with a jeweler he knew and create premium rings that would sell for quite a bit more, with a good margin for him and Harry even after having to buy the rings to enchant. He would also offer a service if anyone wanted to convert a ring they already had.

Harry has been surprised by just how much Garrick intended to do with his design. It seemed that the wand maker really wanted to make a go of the rings. Harry had asked about that and was a little surprised by the answer.

_ "There isn't much gold in making wands Harry, my business is even subsidized by the Ministry. As much as our society needs wands, most witches and wizards only ever buy one in their entire lives. I make most of my gold on the wand holsters and wand polish, occasionally a bit of consulting if someone needs an expert on wands. Honestly, a new product that I can hopefully make some gold on is just what I need." _

Harry took another lick of his ice cream and leaned back, just watching the people walking past who were going about their business and doing some shopping. Their relaxing afternoon eating ice-cream was suddenly cut short by the arrival of Hedwig, who flew down and landed on the small table between him and Dan. Harry immediately turned his attention to his familiar and gleaned two things: first, Hedwig was worked up; something had happened to her that she didn't like. The other thing he noticed was that she had a note tied to her leg. Harry untied and opened the note that was written on normal note paper instead of parchment.

Dan, Harry,

There are wizards at the house! They are claiming that they are here to return Harry to his relatives. You need to come home quickly.

Harry was stunned. What wizard would want to return him to the Dursleys? Then he remembered Dumbledore. Harry had thought that he had managed to get around the headmaster, but he must have found out that Harry wasn't at the Dursleys somehow.

"Harry! Do you have a way to quickly contact Director Bones?" Dan asked him. Harry got the impression it wasn't the first time Dan had asked that question in the last few moments.

"Uh...contact Director Bones...I could send a note with Hedwig." Harry quickly rummaged through his pockets looking for something to write with and came up empty. His gaze fell on the quills and parchment store and he quickly dove in, not even bothering to pay normally but just grabbing what he needed and tossing a galleon at the old woman behind the counter. He quickly wrote two notes, one for Director Bones and one for Tonks and tied them to Hedwig's leg.

"Hedwig I need you to hurry, OK? Find either Madam Bones or Tonks quickly." Hedwig gave him a quick nip on the finger before she took flight. Harry turned back to Dan. "We need to wait in the pub, I told Director Bones and Tonks we would wait for them in the Leaky Cauldron."

Dan nodded and took off towards the pub, Harry only a half step behind him. The pub was mostly empty as it was after the lunch rush on a weekday; the two anxious men sat at a table waiting impatiently. Harry was worried about being sent back to the Dursleys, and Dan didn't like the idea of not rushing back to his wife while a number of unknown men with magic were throwing their weight around their home.

Fortunately the two of them didn't have to wait very long. Not 15 minutes after they set foot in the pub the fireplace flashed green and out stumbled Auror Tonks. It was most definitely Auror Tonks, not Cousin Tonks, as she was wearing the deep red robes that came with the job. Harry rushed over to her and started trying to explain what he knew, but the young Auror interrupted him. "One second Harry, the boss lady is right behind me; no point in explaining this twice."

About 10 seconds later, the fireplace flashed green again and this time Director Bones stepped out far more elegantly than Tonks had been able to do; she also had a rather ruffled and annoyed looking Hedwig seated on her shoulder.

"Right Harry, what's going on?" Tonks asked as Director Bones brushed the ash from her robes.

This time Harry was silent and just held out the note that he had received from Emma. Tonks quickly read it before handing it over to Director Bones, who did the same.

"OK, the two of you stay here, Auror Tonks and I will go and see what is going on." Director Bones told them, and without even waiting for a reply the two of them turned on the spot and disappeared, leaving an anxious Dan and Harry behind waiting for news.

\---ϟϟϟ---

Tonks landed and looked around for her boss, only to notice that she was alone.  _ Damn it! Rookie mistake. _ In her rush she had forgotten to check with her superior where to aim her apparation. Director Bones had probably gone to a secluded area and would be here soon. Tonks, who was more familiar with the house, had aimed to land in the garden, where she had been a couple of weeks ago to celebrate Harry's birthday.

"I keep telling you, my daughter is a witch. There is no need to modify mine or my husband's memory. She is Harry's closest friend, that's how we met him." Tonks could hear Mrs. Granger's voice coming from inside the house.

If the wizards were talking about obliviating the Grangers, she had to get in there quickly. Fixing a modified memory was a dicey business at best. She reached for the door handle and hoped it wasn't locked. While she could perform the unlocking charm nonverbally it did nothing to hide the sound of the lock itself disengaging.

She was in luck, the door opened quietly and she was able to slip inside the Granger's kitchen. "What's taking so long? You sent that note to your husband half an hour ago. You better not be lying to us, there are much worse fates than getting your memory modified and just forgetting about us you know!" Tonks could hear one of the voices.

"Keep your robes on. Remember muggle transportation is useless. The boy is underage, they probably have to walk back or use one of those slow aut-O-mobiles, just be patient." A second voice calmed the first.

Tonks crept through the kitchen getting closer to the door to the living room. "Should we just modify her memory now? It would save time!" The first voice said again. Tonks didn't have any time to hesitate; she rushed across the last part of the kitchen, knocking a stack of clean dishes off the kitchen work surface as she went. She stood next to the door so that if anyone wanted to cast on her they would need to come right up to the door and called out.

"This is the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. You are under arrest for suspected Muggle baiting and attempting to remove a minor from their lawful guardian. You do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defence if you do not mention during questioning something which you later rely on during your trial before the Wizengamot. Anything you say may be given in evidence. Drop your wands and come quietly.”

There were a few sounds of surprise then a voice called out. "We are the DMLE!”

At the same time Mrs. Granger called out "Tonks? Oh thank god."

_ What the hell? Why would MLE be trying to move Harry back to the Dursleys? _ She looked around the door to see who was inside, it was Auror Cavendish and Senior Auror Dawlish. Seeing that it wasn't a group of criminals, Tonks stepped into the room, but given that Dawlish had just threatened to wipe Mrs. Granger's memories of magic she didn't put her wand away.

"What are you doing here, rookie?" Dawlish barked at her. Tonks was surprised she hadn't recognised Dawlish's voice; she spent enough time listening to him bark orders at her, most of which had nothing to do with investigating a crime. She would have taken offence, but he was like that with all the rookie aurors.

"I just got a report of unknown wizards attempting to abduct Harry Potter from his home. I came and found you two doing just that. Care to explain why that is?"

"Damn rookie can't even read a good damn report properly. It's two muggles who have taken Harry Potter from his relatives without the permission of his magical guardian. Now sit back and watch how someone who knows they are doing deals with this." Dawlish snapped back. He turned to Mrs. Granger and said, "OK, this is your last chance. Tell me where the boy is or you can say goodbye to your memories, and I won't be too  careful about what I erase."

Tonks moved and stood between the woman who had taken in her cousin where she and her family had failed, and the man who was threatening her and gave Dawlish a glare that, if witches could petrify, would have put a basilisk to shame.

"What do you think you are doing, rookie? Get out of the way, now!"

"You can't modify her memory! Her daughter is a muggleborn. She is well within her rights to know about magic!"

"Not this story again, rookie, now listen to me. Suspects and criminals, they lie. They lie about what they did, they lie about where they were, they will lie about anything if they think it will get them out of trouble. Just because she said she has a witch for a daughter doesn't make it true. There is no evidence of a witch daughter here. Now get out of the way."

"You haven't even looked for evidence of a witch daughter." Tonks knew this because if he had looked upstairs she had no doubt that he would have found all Hermione's school supplies. "I personally vouch for Mrs. Granger."

"You don't have the seniority to vouch for the stench of dragon dung, rookie. GET! OUT! OF! THE! WAY!" He was bellowing in her face like a demented parody of some the auror training programs instructors.

"And what about my word, Dawlish? Because I also vouch for Mrs. Granger's daughter being a witch. And a damned intelligent one at that." Dawlish froze struck dumb at the sound of the voice and he and his partner Cavendish turned around in shock.

"Ah Director Bones. It's good to see you again. Even if it's under these circumstances,” Emma said shakily.

\---ϟϟϟ---

Harry Potter was more than a little queasy as he appeared in the Grangers’ back garden. Tonks had just brought him and Dan back to the house by side-along apparition, and it felt as though Harry's stomach had been filled with a bunch of rocks somewhere along the journey. After a few moments of fighting, he was able to get himself under control and just managed to avoid throwing up all over the Grangers’ patio. Dan however lost his battle and threw up over the paving slabs. Tonks vanished the acrid smelling contents of Dan's stomach, saying "Don't worry about it, most people throw up the first time they’re taken by side-along apparition. it's a little better if you can do it yourself, but not much; you have to give it its dues, though, it's a fast and convenient way to travel." Harry wasn't sure he agreed with the convenient part, in fact he thought he might just stick to brooms whenever he could. 

About twenty minutes after Director Bones and Tonks had left, Tonks had returned to Dan and Harry, telling them that everything was OK now and that no-one was being sent to the Dursleys, and that Emma was a little agitated but completely fine. A quick journey through the outer reaches of hell, or as it was more commonly referred to 'side-along apparition' had taken them back home. Director Bones was waiting there for them drinking a cup of tea with Emma. Emma, seeing that Dan and Harry were back, relaxed. Dan was quick to seat himself next to his wife and she slumped against him.

"What happened, Director?" Harry asked the woman who was wiping at her tea.

"Somehow a report made it to the desk of one of the DMLE's senior aurors. It said that you had been removed from your family by the Grangers’ and that you need to be returned to them as soon as possible. The auror didn't bother to check if there was already an active file for you, and after getting his partner the two rushed here to save you." She stopped for a few moments sipping on her tea to get the time to order her thoughts. "Aurors Dawlish and Cavendish arrived to find you missing and treated Mrs. Granger like a suspect in a kidnapping. As of right now, nothing is going to happen. As long as the Granger's are OK with the arrangement you will stay here."

Dan interrupted Director Bones here. "Harry isn't going anywhere. He is staying with us." Harry was a little surprised by how firm Dan was when he said that Harry was staying. As much as they made sure he felt welcome, he still had trouble seeing himself as worth that level of commitment.

The head of the DMLE smiled at Dan's words. "Excellent. As I was saying, you are staying here and not returning to your relatives."

"What is going to happen about those two men?" Emma asked, still a little shaky but recovering quickly.

"Well, I'm going to drag Dawlish and Cavendish into my office and yell at them for half an hour for not checking if there was an active file before running off. Dawlish especially, as a senior auror should know better."

"That's it? They threatened my mind! How can being yelled at be the only thing that they are facing?" That Emma felt that was nowhere near enough was clear in her voice. Dan stiffened on hearing this, and you could easily see the tension in the man.

"Despite the fact that if they had checked the files this would not have happened, Dawlish and Cavendish thought they were dealing with a kidnapping case for one of our world's most well known people. Every law enforcement the world over is rough in such situations, threatening suspects with the harshest punishments available. The child that needs protecting comes first." None of them liked that, even if they could understand it. Harry particularly didn't like being called a child. Hadn’t he done more than most adults? He had faced a troll, a basilisk, dementors, LeStrange, and Voldemort. He wasn't a child, not anymore anyway.

Amelia sighed before continuing "What I want to know is where did the report of a kidnapping come from? I doubt that the Dursleys would have filled such a report. As I understand it, Mr. Dursley was quite happy with the idea of walking away from all contact with the wix community. But who else would take an interest into Harry's living arrangements?" 

"Dumbledore." Everyone turned to look at Harry when he spoke.

"Please explain." Director Bones asked of him.

"During the last school year, Dumbledore called me up to his office. He had shared that he knew I had spent Christmas here and wanted me to go back to the Dursleys this summer. He kept saying things like  _ “They must miss you” _ and  _ “it's his job to return students to their families at the end of the school year” _ . He wouldn't listen when I tried to explain and said he was going to write to you about it."

"Oh, I remember getting a letter from Mr. and Mrs. Granger now about that, but I never received a letter from Dumbledore. I assumed that the man had dropped it."

Tonks spoke up. "Boss, Mr. Dursley did turn up when Harry got off the train and tried to take Harry home. He said something about getting a letter that he needed to collect Harry." 

“Well, it looks like I have a lead to follow up on. Auror Tonks, I want you to stay here and get their official statements, and then I will see you back at the ministry.” The director said her farewells and then went into the back garden to apparate back to the ministry. 

Tonks sighed. "Great, paperwork, fun."

\---ϟϟϟ---

Dumbledore sat in his Chief Warlock’s Office at the Ministry looking over the report from the DMLE. He hadn’t thought that there was a good chance to get Harry back on track with his original plan, slipping the report into an auror’s inbox, but the relatively low risk of fallout made it a shot worth taking. Even when Director Bones had come sniffing around about the report, he was able to quickly wave off her concerns. He was the Headmaster of Hogwarts after all. If he found that a student had not returned to their family after leaving the school, then it was his job to file a report. And if he had used his position as Chief Warlock to put a report directly on an auror’s desk...well, it wasn't protocol, but a minor's safety was top priority over a little bit of paperwork.

The only downside was that Director Bones took the time to explain to him why she had removed Harry from the Dursleys. Now he wouldn't be able to claim ignorance and continue to try and send the boy back there. It mattered little, he was going to need to put together a new plan anyway. He just didn't like having an option totally removed from the board. He would also need to be hands off for a while. He wished that Director Bones hadn't taken a personal interest in Harry's case. The woman was good at her job, and in the long run, when Tom was able to return that competence would save a lot of innocent lives. She did however complicate things in the short term. Even if he stayed within the law, investigations had a habit of uncovering things best left in the dark.

Albuse sighed and rubbed at the bridge of his nose, pushing up his glasses while he massaged where they normally rested. It didn't matter; he needed to keep his eyes on the big picture, and Harry would be back under his influence in a few weeks. Then, he could update his plan to save everyone from the evil that Tom would inflict on them.

\---ϟϟϟ---

The rest of Harry’s week could be summed up in one word, uneventful. Apart from a few chores around the house that he had to do, Harry was pretty bored. Unlike the Dursleys, the Grangers didn't expect him to do all the housework, but it was his home and he was expected to do his share. He didn't mind, because Dan and Emma always appreciated the help. 

Monday rolled around and Harry perked up. Hermione was coming home today, but Daphne and Tracy were also coming over for a week. Hermione had apparently arranged it on his birthday. Harry would finally have someone to talk to after a week of being mostly alone. Dan and Emma were great, but talking with them was hard. Not only were they two adults whose life experience was confined to the mundane world, they also both worked full time jobs.

Harry was broken out of his thoughts by the door opening and someone coming into the house. He turned and just caught a glimpse of bushy brown hair before the person it was attached to jumped on him, wrapped her legs around him and proceeded to try and kiss him. The problem was, unlike in films where the actor knows what is about to happen, Harry had no clue and didn't have a chance to brace himself for a person to barrel into him. The end result was the two of them falling onto the sofa that was luckily behind him

"Ow." Harry said as he felt Hermione's head slam into his.

Hermione sucks in a breath before muttering to herself. "Bad plan, that was a bad plan... are you OK Harry?"

"I will be. Nice to see you too, by the way." Harry smiled up at her trying to hide a wince as his head throbbed. Trying to hide it was useless, though, when Hermione was only a foot from his face. Instead of saying anything, Hermione leaned forward and captured his lips. Soon the two of them were kissing as if they hadn't seen each other in months, despite the fact it only been a week.

"OK, calm down, both of you. There is no need to go over the top."

Harry looked over Hermione's shoulder to the woman who had come in behind her and tried to communicate to Hermione's nan, Ms. Richards, that  _ ‘I don't have much of a say in this' _ with a look. The older woman shook her head and made her way to the kitchen, were Harry could hear her *put the kettle on.

"I missed you Harry." Hermione said as she buried her head in the crook where his neck met his shoulder.

Harry inhaled deep taking in the smell of her. Of everything that he missed about Hermione when she wasn't there, it was her scent. Vanilla (as Hermione had changed her shampoo again) mixed with the ever present scent of parchment and an unnameable quality that was distinctly Hermione. "I missed you as well."

Ms Richards came back into the room holding a cup of tea. “Good morning Harry, it’s nice to see you again.” She ignored that Hermione was still sitting in his lap.

“It’s good to see you as well Ms. Richards. How have you been since Christmas?” The three of them engaged in small talk for twenty or so minutes before Ms. Richards left. She probably would have stayed longer, but she wanted to see Emma before she went home and both Dan and Emma were stuck at the surgery for most of the day. Most parents tried to schedule their kids’ check-ups during the summer break, and as Dan and Emma had taken a week off for their vacation in France, they had been dealing with a fully booked surgery since.

Harry and Hermione spent the rest of the morning and the early part of the afternoon preparing for their guests. That mostly involved Harry moving his trunk to Hermione's room, putting a fresh bed spread on his bed, and setting up the Grangers’ camp bed in his room. Harry was giving up his room to the two girls and was bunking with Hermione again.

Originally Harry had assumed that Daphne and Tracy would share Hermione's room. However, Hermione had told him differently. It surprised him that Dan and Emma would be so relaxed about him sharing Hermione's room, now that his and Hermione’s relationship had progressed to include the physical. But it seemed as though the two of them had accepted the inevitable. It would be a little cramped, sharing Hermione's single bed with her for a week, but the two of them would manage. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N 
> 
> Fun fact, I initially planned for Harry and Dan to go with Director Bones to investigate what was happening at home, but when I came to write it it didn't make sense; a cop wouldn't take a civilian to an active situation unless they had no choice.
> 
> *Put the kettle on - common saying in the UK that means to make a cup of tea, referring to the act of filling a kettle and setting it to boil
> 
> Sorry again about the long wait. I know i said i would do better but then my internet died on me. And thanks to ronna it's taking a long time to get it fixed as we need an engineer to come to the home and they are massively delayed. Right now i am using my very kind neighbours wifi so can do a little bit but it will be at least another week until i have everything up and running again.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

“Harry? What's going on?” 

Harry was stered from his sleep and found he had an uncomfortably stiff neck. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and tried to look around for the source of the voice. He found a vaguely Dan-coloured blur. “Wha??” Harry's attempt at articulate speech failed miserably.

“Why are you sleeping on the sofa, Harry?” There was a slight edge to his voice, and Harry wondered if he was in trouble for something. He pulled his thoughts together; he was sleeping on the sofa? That would explain his stiff neck. But why wasn't he sleeping in his bed?

It took a bit of prodding, but his brain finally spit out an answer. “It was too hot last night, couldn't sleep.” 

Daphne and Tracy had arrived the day before and had taken over his room. Harry was all set to spend the night in Hermione's room cuddled up to his girlfriend like he had done more than a few times at Hogwarts. Everything was fine at first, but it was the middle of August and the night was already uncomfortably warm. It was a warm night to begin with, and Hermione’s bed was not big. The two of them sleeping on top of each other just became hot and sweaty in a way that was definitely not fun.

Harry had eventually given up on sleep and come down to read and must have fallen asleep on the sofa at some point. He started digging around the sofa looking for his glasses.

“It was too hot?” Dan sounded amused now, the edge to his voice gone.

Preoccupied with searching for his glasses Harry replied without thinking about who he was talking to. “Hermione is amazing but it’s like sharing a bed with a radiator.”

Dan laughed. “Her mother is the same. It’s nice when it's cold but it can be a bit much sometimes.” 

Harry finally found his glasses between the sofa cushions and put them on before looking at Dan. He was relieved to see an amused look on the older man’s face as he started to focus on what they were talking about. Harry didn't know why he was so nervous about Dan when it came to the subject of Harry dating his daughter. The older man had been nothing but supportive and had made it clear with his actions: all he wanted was for his daughter to be happy and the two of them to be responsible. 

It probably had something to do with the fathers of teenage girls on TV. Whenever a teenage girl got into a relationship on TV, the father always reacted in a similar way. Whether it was harsh words or something more, they were always hostile to their daughters’ boyfriends, and Harry was always a little worried that Dan would become like that.

The two of them made their way to the kitchen and lost themselves in making breakfast. Breakfast was a little more complicated than normal with two more people to feed, but Harry had found that you could buy croissants to bake at home when he and Emma had gone grocery shopping a few days ago. Hary doubted that they would be as good as the ones he and the Grangers had in France, but he popped open a few cans of the dough and set about shaping them ready to be baked.

Emma walked into the kitchen about half an hour later just in time to grab a couple of the first batch of croissants. She and Dan sat there for a while eating their breakfast, talking about everything and nothing at the same time. Daphne and Tracy were the next to show up, the two Slytherin girls following their nose in search of the source of the scent of warm buttery pastry that was filling the house.

“Good morning!” Daphne greeted happily.

“Morning,” Tracy greeted them only at Daphne's prodding as she guided her to a chair at the kitchen table.

“Don’t mind Tracy, she isn't much of a morning person.” Daphne (who evidently was a morning person) beamed.

Harry put a bottle of orange juice and a plate of croissants with a pot of strawberry jam and the tray of butter on the table where they could easily be reached. Harry tried to avoid looking at Daphne when he put the spoon in the pot of jam, but he wasn't able to keep from watching to see if Daphne reacted. She did, shooting Harry a good natured glare. He was glad to see Tracy smile at his little bit of teasing before he disappeared upstairs to check on Hermione.

\---ϟϟϟ---

The first day with Daphne and Tracy visiting was taken up by a trip to Diagon Alley. Harry and Hermione had put off their trip until after Hermione had returned from visiting her Nan. Hermione, however, didn't want to put it off any longer. There were only two weeks until they returned to Hogwarts, and she liked to read all her new books though before they went back. 

Hermione had apparently told Daphne and Tracy the plan, because they each had gold from their parents to cover their shopping as well. So the six of them went to Diagon Alley. Most of the trip was routine; while getting some money at the bank, Harry almost had to argue with Emma before he could visit his vault, but she conceded that it was OK for him to get some spending money for the year. She and Dan, though,  _ were _ paying for his school things. Harry was glad that the tuition for Hogwarts was paid from his vault directly and was set up by his parents. He hated to think what the Grangers would have to give up to pay for his school tuition.

Next, they bought refills for their potion kits, where Tracy had a good eye for ingredients. She said that her mother made potions for the spa that her parents owned and had taught her a few things about what to look for. When purchasing quills ink and parchment, the old woman recognised Harry from the last time he was there leading to an awkward apology from the teen. Once he explained that he had just gotten a letter that needed a very urgent response and the old woman had caught sight of his scar, she was quick to forgive him 

Next came clothes. Getting school robes had been easy, just getting re-measured and buying the same old stuff as always, just bigger. Measuring the four of them took longer than everything else together, but now Hermione was dragging him along as she followed Daphne and Tracy to buy dress robes. They were going to TWILFITT AND TATTINGS, a more up-market clothing store.

“Come on you two!” Tracy called excitedly over her shoulder. “This shop is great and mum gave me thirty gallons to spend here.”

“I still don't see why we need dress robes this year,” Harry complained, he wasn't looking forward to spending an hour or more being dressed up by four women.

“Isn't it obvious? There must be some type of formal event this year. Probably a dance of some type,” Daphne replied, as though she thought he was being a bit thick.

“A dance?”

Daphne exaggeratedly rolled her eyes, “Yes Harry, a dance. You do know what that is, right? When you and a partner hold each other and move to the sound of music?” Daphne was laying it on a bit, but this was probably her way to get back at him for the jam this morning.

“I know what a dance is, Daph.” 

Hermione apparently couldn't resist joining in on the teasing. “Harry knows what a dance is. He just doesn't know how to do it, is all.”

“Mione.” Harry's voice was almost a wine.

The six of them filed into the shop on the south end of the alley. The shop walls were filled with racks of robes in every colour and size, and the center of the room had two raised platforms (not unlike the fitting space in Madam Malkin’s), and in the back of the shop were a few changing rooms.

A well dressed witch with a measuring tape draped around her shoulders approached them. “Good afternoon, how can i help you today?”

“These four need dress robes for Hogwarts this year,” Emma said as she indicated the teenagers.

“OK, just find something that you like on the racks, you can try them on and see how they look in the changing area. Once you find something you like, my colleague or I will tailor it to fit you.” She pointed out a similarly well-dressed wizard, also with a measuring tape draped over his shoulders. “The witch's racks are here, and the wizard’s are over there. Come find one of us if you need anything.” She indicated three quarters of the racks for witches' robes and the quarter at the back of the store for wizards.

Harry thought he would be alone while he looked though the wizard robes but Tracy followed him. “I doubt you will find much to suit you over here Trace.”

She scoffed at him. “With your sense of fashion, I doubt you will find anything that suits you, even if the perfect set of robes were right in front of you. I’m gonna help you while Daphne helps Hermione. That way Hermione won't be embarrassed to be seen with you.”

“Hey, I'm not that bad!” Harry protested.

“OK, you're not completely terrible, but formal robes are completely new to you and Hermione. Daph and I know what to look for, and this way the two of you can avoid seeing each other all dressed up until then. Daphne and I are doing the same.” Tracy started going through the racks looking for something that would suit Harry.

“Are the two of you going together then? I thought the two of you were hiding your relationship?” Harry also started to flick through the robes. They were incredibly different from their school robes, the closest thing Harry could think of to match them was some of the more ornate priest robes he had seen on the TV, only instead of white and gold, there was an entire rainbow of colours. Sometimes the entire rainbow was on a single robe.

“Yeah, Daph and I need to talk to you and Hermione about that. Mr. Greengrass found out about our relationship and is mostly OK with it. Here, hold this.” she passed him a robe in deep purple. “Daph and I will tell you more later, but we should be able to go together.” They spent the next half hour going through the robes until Harry had about five sets to try on, then he was bundled into one of the small cubicles to change. While he got changed, he heard Hermione being shepherded into the cubicle next to his.

Harry put on the first robe, the purple one that had been the first one to be added to the pile of clothes he was going to have to model for everyone apart from Hermione. One of the biggest differences that Harry noted about dress robes was the presence of a *stole. He trotted himself out like a show pony ready to be judged. The reaction to the purple robes from everyone, including the sales witch (who was chatting with Dan and Emma) was pretty much “ _ meh _ ”, so it was back into the changing room to change. While he swapped out one robe for another, he could hear Hermione going through the same thing he just had.

Eventually, Harry had tried on all of the robes and everyone agreed on the one for him. This set of robes were a dark green, dark enough that you could mistake it for black in low light. The trim, liner and detail work, though, were in a lighter green that matched his eyes. The stole was the opposite, a light green with dark green detailing. The detailing on the stole was a silhouette of a tree on each end that swayed back and forth in a non existent wind. 

Now Harry was stuck sitting in the little cubicle while Hermione had her robes tailored to fit. Tracy was standing guard just outside the curtain that served as a door to the changing room, making sure that he didn’t get bored or (more importantly) that he didn't peek. Of course, the fact that Tracy kept saying how amazing Hermione looked in her robes only made him want to peek more. Then it was his turn to have his robes fitted. He stood on the raised platform while the sales witch waved her wand at him. Each flick of her wand altered the robes a little, shortened a sleeve losend a seam or tightened another. Then, he was finally free. 

He changed back to his regular clothes before joining everyone else as they searched for robes for Daphne and Tracy. Harry was next to useless in helping select robes for their friends, every suggestion he made was shot down almost immediately.. Comments like “Daphne should never wear that colour” or “those robes wouldn't fall right with Tracy’s figure” made him give up quickly.

When Daphne and Tracy retreated to the changing rooms, Harry started to muse over exactly what type of event would require clothes like this. Something like a wedding would fit, but Harry seriously doubted that there would be a wedding planned at the school. Even if there was, you wouldn't plan to hold it when there were students at the school. The problem was, Harry just couldn't think of any other type of formal event that would be held at a school, so he did what he often did when he couldn't think of an answer. “What kind of formal events do you think the school would be holding?” he asked Hermione.

Hermione looked at him though he was still being a little dense. "It'll be a dance, Harry. Or more likely, given wizarding society, a ball. You know, music, dancing, nice clothes, a date?”

“Oh, a ball?'' Harry asked and Hermione nodded. His feelings were mixed on one hand. The idea of spending an evening with Hermione as the two of them danced was appealing, but he had trouble picturing it going well. Harry couldn’t dance. Not real dancing, like would be required at a ball, and he could easily picture people like Malfoy using it as an opportunity to belittle him.

if there was to be a ball, however, there was one thing that Harry was definitely sure about. "If there is going to be a ball, then there is only one witch whom I would like to accompany. Hermione, would you please do me the honor of being my date to the ball?" One benefit of being in a relationship was that you didn't need to spend time wondering about who to take to an event, nor did you have to waste energy worrying about whether or not they would say yes.

Hermione leaned in and gave him a quick kiss on his cheek and said "I would love to be your date Harry." Then in typical Hermione fashion, pulled him into one of her signature hugs.

\---ϟϟϟ---

The four teens were squashed into Hermione's room after their shopping trip. Daphne and Tracy had put their bags in their room, as they would need to wait until they returned to their homes for them to sort that all out, but Harry and Hermione were sorting their purchases into their trunks. During the year Harry saw the inside of Hermione's trunk had remained neat and tidy, whereas his own (while clean) was a disorganised chaos. He had books in the wardrobe compartment, and his gloves were in with his books. He had quills and ink bottles that had just been left wherever, and his Nimbus was sharing its compartment with bag sweets from Honeydukes that Harry had no clue about, especially given the fact that he and Hermione had been prevented from going there for most of the year. Harry took the bag of sweets out of his trunk and put them to one side. His new books went easily into his book shelves, his new robes replaced his old ones, his dress robes were hung up as well but were kept in a separate robe bag to keep them dust and wrinkle free.

"Harry, Hermione, there is something Tracy and I wanted to talk to you about." Harry knew by Daphne's tone that it was something important, but Daphne also sounded a little upbeat at the same time and her normally pale skin was tinted pink from a blush, so he didn't think it was anything bad.

Harry closed his trunk and used it as a chair while Hermione sat on her bed. " Daphne, what's wrong? Is everything OK?" Hermione was concerned for her friend. "Whatever it is, Harry and I will help any way we can."

Daphne looked a little nervous. Her face, as normal, was a sculpture of aloof calm. However, just like a sculpture looks how its creator wants, showing the world what he wants to show them, so too was Daphne's face a work of what she wanted people to see. But Harry and Hermione had known her and Tracy for almost a year now, and there were subtle hints that they were picking up on. For example, Daphne was sitting close enough to Tracy that she was able to conceal that the two of them were holding hands. For some reason, Daphne felt she needed reassurance, so whatever she needed to talk about was big.

“My father knows about Tracy and I.” Daphne's tone was even; whatever it was she was worrying about, it wasn't that her father knew about her being a lesbian. 

“How is your father accepting the news?” Hermione was asked anxiously 

“He seems OK with it, and he said he would support me with mum.” Daphne smiled but it was evident she was still worried about something.

“Well that's good, isn't it? I know you were worried about what your mother would think,” Hermione relaxed a little as she asked.

“It is good, but he had a few conditions for his support…”

“What did he want?” Harry asked.

“There are a few things he wants from me if he is to stand up to mum."

"He wants stuff from you before you can date whom you like?" Hermione sounded angry but she kept herself from shouting or bad-mouthing Daphne's father. She had learnt that lesson last Valentine's Day, when she learned that Daphne's mum Laurel had some homophobic tendencies. Hermione's reaction was to stand by Daphne, but she did it by bad-mouthing her mother, which Daphne really didn't appreciate.

"It's mostly nothing. He wants me to keep my grades up, and I have been having extra lessons with him in business. Because I won't be marrying a man, he wants me to keep the Greengrass name. If I keep the name Greengrass and my grades are satisfactory, he wants me to take over the family's business when he retires.”

“Oh whoa, that’s a pretty big thing, isn't it?” Harry asked.

“Huge. Father wasn't sure what he would do with the business with two daughters. ‘Greengrass Traders’ has been run by our family for centuries. Ever since it was started by my great-great grandparents on my dad’s side. But with only two daughters to pass it to, the business and the Greengrass name looked like it would just be added to some other House’s holdings.” Daphne took a breath to steel herself before she continued. “With me not taking the name of a husband, father seized on the opportunity to keep the family name and legacy strong for another generation. Only he had one more condition…I need to provide an heir.” 

Harry and Hermione were stunned and didn't know what to say. It wasn't unusual for parents to want grandchildren; after the two of them had researched wizarding law to help Buckbeak and seen how important Houses were in Wizarding Britain, it was easy to see how something like requiring an heir to inherit the position of Warlock or a House came about. At the same time, asking a lesbian to get pregnant seemed like a bit much. 

Hermione quickly came up with something to help their friend. “You know, muggles have ways to help a woman get pregnant without needing to have sex. You could always try that.”

“There is a magical way to do it as well. A couple of potions, a donation from a wizard, and a spell to put that donation…well, where it needs to go. The problem is…well…it's finding a willing wizard." Daphne's ice queen persona had fully collapsed by this point and the young witch was blushing furiously. The silence dragged on for almost two minutes before Tracy gave Daphne an elbow to the ribs, pushing her to continue, but Daphne seemed beyond the ability to talk right now.

Tracy sighed and picked up where Daphne had left off. "Harry, we were hoping that you would be willing to provide that donation." Tracy was matter of fact in the way she said it, but the redness taking over her face betrayed that she was almost as embarrassed as her girlfriend.

Harry was stunned; why would they ask him? Sure, he was their friend, but it wasn't like he was their only male friend. The Slytherin girls, while never seen in the company of Malfoy and his pureblood supermarket crowd (well at least as much as they could while sharing dining space, common room and classes), were often seen in the company of other members of their school year. Surely they had others they could ask?

But of their friends, how many of them were aware that Daphne and Tracy were together? And just how close can you be with people if you are keeping a big secret from them? Until they had accidentally revealed their relationship to Harry and Hermione, there had been a distance between them whenever they worked together for Runes. At the time, Harry had thought it was the House rivalry, that the two Slytherins hadn't wanted to be friendly with the Gryffindors. However, after it was confirmed that both he and Hermione genuinely didn’t care about the two's relationship, the Slytherins relaxed around them. Maybe there was a similar distance to that with their other friends? 

The question was would he be OK with this? It was huge. About half a million questions started jumping around his head. If he agreed, would he be part of the child's life? Could he father a child then abandon it? Would he be able to watch him or her grow up as nothing more than a friend of his or her mums? What about Hermione, how would she feel about her boyfriend helping other women to have a child? 

The silence had dragged on for a few minutes while Harry and Hermione got their heads around what was being asked. It was Tracy who broke the silence. “You don't have to give us an answer now, we know it’s a big thing to ask for. But Daphne and I would be grateful if you two thought about it.”

The rest of the evening was fairly quiet, as Harry and Hermione had too many thoughts buzzing around their heads to provide good conversation to their guests.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a/n
> 
> *stole - this is a piece of cloth that is worn similar to an open scarf (up one side of the body behind the neck and down the other) they come in a variety of lengths and widths and are usually decorated with embroidery but can be plain. Think of it like a tie, not functional in any way just for decoration.
> 
> Sorry this chapter took so long. Honestly it's just been kicking my ass and I had some internet travels around the time I posted the last chapter but those have been cleared up, it took way bloody longer than it should have. 
> 
> Daphne's request may have come out of nowhere for some of you but it's part of of a subplot that I have plans for. It won't be a big focus but other characters do have their own things to deal with and this is Daphne and Tracy's.
> 
> I hope the next chapter will be out a lot sooner.
> 
> I'm having the four teens have a little movie marathon in the next chapter. Any suggestions for films they should watch?


	9. Opening Moves CH09 Summers End

**Chapter 9**

As to be expected, there had been some initial awkwardness after Daphne's request of Harry and Hermione, but after the four of them had worked out that it would take them a long time to make a decision, and that no decision was needed anytime soon (not even for a couple of years), the teens had set the question aside and had gotten on with their summer.

The four of them had fun introducing Daphne to the muggle world. Tracy, whose father was muggleborn, had been raised half in the muggle world, but the Greengrasses (being purebloods) had little to no contact with the muggle world. As such, Daphne's only real exposure to the muggle world was when she visited Tracy's home. According to Tracy, there wasn’t a lot to do in her hometown; there were a few tourist spots, a nice public park, and a swimming pool, but that was basically it.

The second day of the stayover, they went shopping for Daphne to get a couple of outfits that wouldn't look out of place to the world in which they were currently staying. The pureblood witch had a couple of outfits for visits with Tracy, but not enough to last an entire week. Daphne was rather conservative in her tastes, avoiding anything that revealed too much skin. Wizarding robes rarely showed much skin, and Daphne just didn't feel comfortable with shorter skirts or low cut tops. Harry was (of course) bored for most of the trip but was happy that the girls seemed to be enjoying themselves.

However, Harry perked up once they introduced Daphne to the cinema after finishing shopping. They watched the latest offering from Disney, “The Lion King” as it wouldn't have technology that they would have to explain to Daphne or even Tracy, whose knowledge of muggle tech was random and spotty. They didn't get much of a reaction from Daphne to the big screen, as she had already been introduced to television while visiting Tracy. While the movie screen was bigger and more impressive, it wasn't completely new. 

Wednesday, their third day as a group, they just hung around the Granger's home listening to music and watched films. They used Hermione's magical gramophone and raided her parents vinyl collection. Tracy hadn't seen many films and Daphne had only seen the one in the cinema the day before, and Harry also hadn't seen that many (although in his case it was because the Dursleys never wanted Harry around when they were enjoying a film and tended to send Harry to the kitchen to make dinner while they sat Infront of the TV). The four of them decided to have their own little movie marathon watching films from Dan's selection of VHS tapes. They enjoyed a few of the classics: Star Wars, Ghostbusters, Monty Python's Holy Grail, and Die Hard, before finishing off with Free Willy.

Hermione had chosen that set of films for different reasons. Star Wars was because practically everyone raised in the Muggle world had seen the film and referenced it. Ghostbusters and Holy Grail were there for fun, and Die Hard had a realistic look at guns without being too disturbing to watch. It would show Daphne and Tracy more about how dangerous muggles could be in one film than an entire year of Muggle studies would do, from what she had read of the textbook when she borrowed it from Lavender. Free Willy was just a feel good film Hermione liked and was a good uplifting film to finish off their set.

Daphne was a little confused by the idea of space travel at first but soon got into Star Wars, even if she found the idea of a moon-sized space station completely ridiculous. Tracy had a good laugh at the Holy Grail and kept quoting it when they stopped for lunch. The film that got to Harry the most, though, was Free Willy. Something about the whale being kept in captivity, then being released to find his family, spoke to Harry.

Thursday they went for a trip to the London Zoo, and for once Harry was the most knowledgeable one, having been there before. Well, knowledgeable in regards to what animals were there and where they were. Hermione, due to her extensive reading, often was more knowledgeable on the actual animals, but Harry did have fun introducing them to the zoo’s boa constrictor and retelling the story of how he accidentally vanished the glass and set the snake on his cousin.

"They caught me within the hour," The constrictor complained. "I don't sssupposse you could free me again amigo?" 

Harry translated for everyone before replying. "Sorry I can't, I got away with it last time because I was young. If I did it now I would get into serious trouble.”

\---ϟϟϟ---

Harry and Tracy walked into the Leaky Cauldron, which was packed full of witches and wizards. Most were from Britain but a few were obviously from out of town, judging by the languages and heavy accents. The two of them fought through the crowd to the bar, and after about five minutes were able to get Tom's attention. Harry bought the two of them a couple of chilled butterbeers.

It was Daphne and Tracy's last night in London, but it was also the final of the Quidditch World Cup. Daphne and Hermione had not been interested in the game, but Harry and Tracy (being huge fans of the game) couldn't pass up the opportunity to listen to the match. So Hermione and Daphne had decided to stay home and relax, while the two quidditch fans sorted out the only place in London they could listen to the match on the Wizarding Wireless. It wasn't as good as having tickets to watch the game, but the pub had a real atmosphere that was infections.

The two of them found two of the last seats and settled in as the two wizards on the wireless talked about their predictions for the game.

"Well Bibi, I’ll have to disagree with you there. Yes, Ireland has the stronger team but don't be so quick to count out Bulgaria. Don't forget that Krum is an excellent flyer. I won't deny that Ireland has the chasers to build a lead, but if Krum gets that snitch before Ireland can put 150 points on top of what Bulgaria does then it will be the red flags waving tonight."

"True enough Jim, but don't forget about those Irish beaters. They will definitely be doing everything they can to keep Krum away from that snitch, and after what they did to the Spanish seeker a few weeks ago I wouldn't put too much gold on Krum pulling a win for Bulgaria." The pregame commentary lasted for about twenty minutes before the voice changed. "Ladies and gentlemen...welcome! Welcome to the final of the four hundred and twenty-second Quidditch World Cup!"

There was a thunderous applause thousands of spectators in the stadium screamed in delight and clapped as hard as they could "And now, without further ado, allow me to introduce...the Bulgarian National Team Mascots!" There was confusion from the general public in the pub as the commentary disappeared. A few moments later, though, it was back with a female voice. “Sorry about that folks, the Bulgarian national team mascots are a troop of, uh, rather enchanting Veela, and our commentators have gotten a little distracted.”

“What are Veela?” Harry asked Tracy.

“They are witches, Harry, only they have a strong natural magic that makes them incredibly beautiful and they can charm anyone attracted to women to fall for them. It seems almost like a natural love potion but that isn't what they really look like. In reality, they are harpy-esque part humans who can throw balls of fire when they are angry or scared,” Tracy explained.

“And now," the male voice was back, "kindly put your wands in the air...for the Irish National Team Mascots!"

The woman’s voice returned. "For those listening at home, the Irish mascots are leprechauns. They are flying around the stadium forming a green comet. They are raining leprechaun gold on the crowd. No use picking it up guys, it'll vanish within a couple of hours. Still, I wonder how many vendors are going to have to explain that leprechaun gold isn't real." Judging by the sound coming from the crowd, the leprechaun display must have been amazing.

The male commentator took control again "And now, ladies and gentlemen, kindly welcome - the Bulgarian National Quidditch Team! I give you - Dimitrov! Ivanova! Zograf! Levski! Vulchanov! Volkov! Aaaaaaand - Krum!" The crowd went wild for every name, but when Krum was announced the screams of delight dwarfed the rest of the players put together.

"And now, please greet - the Irish National Quidditch Team!" continued the announcer, whom Tracy whispered to Harry was Ludo Bagman, ex-Wimbourne Wasps beater and current Ministry Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports. "Presenting - Connolly! Ryan! Troy! Mullet! Moran! Quigley! Aaaaaand - Lynch!" If the cheers for the Bulgarian team had been loud, the cries of “Ireland! Ireland! Ireland!” completely drowned them out. Despite neither of the teams playing at home, it was obvious which of the two countries had more of a home field advantage.

"And here, all the way from Egypt, our referee, acclaimed Chairwizard of the International Association of Quidditch, Hassan Mostafa! Aaaaaaand theeeeeeeey're OFF!" screamed Bagman. "And it's Mullet! Troy! Moran! Dimitrov! Back to Mullet! Troy! Levski! Moran! The Irish are using the HAWKSHEAD FORMATION, and going on the attack. It's a strong attacking strategy, but flying in such close quarters can be devastating if someone makes a mistake. Troy in the center, slightly ahead of Mullet and Moran, bearing down upon the Bulgarians. It's a PORSKOFF PLOY! It's Moran with the quaffle. One of the Bulgarian Beaters, Volkov, swung hard at a passing Bludger with his small club, knocking it into Moran's path; Moran ducked to avoid the Bludger and dropped the Quaffle; and Levski, soaring beneath, caught it - Troy intercepts, TROY SCORES!!" roared Bagman, and the stadium pub responded with a roar of applause and cheers. "Ten-zero to Ireland!"

As the game continued, Bulgaria's chances for victory got further and further away. Nothing that Krum tried seemed to work out, he was dominating Ireland’s seeker Lynch but the snitch remained uncaught, and the longer the match went on the more points Ireland put on the board. As much as Krum was dominating Lynch, the Irish chasers were dominating the Bulgarian team the same way, slowly building their way to the magical number of 160 points ahead.

The Bulgarian team pressed on as much as they could, but it was in vain. For every goal they scored the Irish would score 3 or 4 and after about an hour and a half of play the Irish were more than 160 points ahead. At that point, the few Bulgarian supporters in the pub got rather dejected, they knew that their chances of winning had just been flushed down the toilet as their chasers had no chance to catch up. There was nothing their wonderboy Krum could do about it. If he'd managed to catch the snitch sooner it could have been a Bulgarian victory, however the chances of that were gone now, and the match was all over apart from the snitch.

Krum went for the snitch 20 minutes later, and the Irish beaters didn't try to stop him; like everyone else, they knew that it was over. There was no way that their seeker was going to catch the snitch, and it would be an Irish victory either way. Krum caught the snitch, and over the radio Harry and Tracy could hear the stadium go wild with both the Irish supporters celebrating their victory and the Bulgarian supporters praising Krum for the catch. The scene was echoed in the small London pub as everyone cheered the match.

Harry and Tracy didn't hang around too long after Krum caught the snitch. The party atmosphere of the Irish supporters quickly turned into a brisk trade for Tom the bartender and the two teenagers quickly felt out of place in the drunken revelry. Instead the two of them made their way out into London seeking something to eat.

It was Friday night so most places were packed, but the two of them were eventually able to grab a pizza at a faceless chain and took it to a nearby park bench to eat. Harry had planned to get pineapple on the pizza, but Tracy absolutely refused to eat pizza with pineapple and they compromised on a chicken pizza. The two of them devoured the pizza while they recalled their favourite parts of the game between them before they got the bus back to the Grangers.

When they walked into the house, however, there was a huge commotion going on. There were four adults there whom Harry wasn't expecting. Of course Dan and Emma were there, but also Daphne's mother Laurel, as well as two other wizards and a witch Harry had never seen before. Harry's suspicion of who two of them were was corroborated when Tracy exclaimed, "Mum, dad, what are you doing here?" In reply, the two who Harry assumed were Tracy's parents pulled his friend into a hug.

The witch holding Tracy started babbling. "Tracy, oh thank God, are you hurt? Are you ok?"

Harry was also hit by his own bushy haired missile as Hermione grabbed him and pulled him into a desperate hug 

"Mum I'm fine what's going on?" Tracy sounded as confused by the woman's behaviour as Harry was. Obviously something had happened that they didn't know about. The woman was too incoherent to reply so Tracy tried again. "Dad what's going on? Why are you here? I thought I was going home tomorrow?"

"You are coming home tonight. The World Cup celebrations were attacked by people dressed in Death Eater robes.” Tracy and Harry were shocked by the news. “We were worried because we knew you intended to go listen to the match, and then when we got here you weren't back.”

Hermione butted in. “We thought you had been attacked! Why did it take you so long to get home? Mr Greengrass said the match finished over two hours ago!'' Hermione was half shouting and accusing Harry, but it was obviously just because she was afraid.

“Mione, Tracy and I are fine. We weren't attacked. We left the Leaky right after the match, drunken parties are not so much fun if you can't buy a drink. We stopped to have something to eat on the way home. We didn't even know that anything happened, or I swear we would have come back sooner." Harry tried to placate Hermione's fears.

Everyone eventually calmed down and then moved to the Graingers sitting room. Unfortunately, the room was designed for one family and a couple of guests, not six adults and four teenagers. The adults took the chairs, leaving the teens to sit on the floor. And in the time honoured tradition of the British, when dealing with stressful situations, you serve tea. Emma served everyone a mug of strong tea and everyone was finally able to relax. Whatever had happened, their families were safe and that was really all that mattered.

\---ϟϟϟ---

Castor Greengrass pulled Harry aside before he left with his wife and daughter. “Mr. Potter, while waiting for you Daphne informed me that she had made a request of you. This may be a little awkward but I was wondering how you felt about that request."

"Honestly sir?" Mr. Greengrass nodded. "It's a lot to consider. While I have no problems helping out Daphne, the idea of having a child and abandoning it just doesn't feel right. I know what it's like to grow up without your father."

The silence hung in the air between the two of them for a couple of minutes. it was obvious that Mr Greengrass hadn't considered that aspect of Harry's life and how it would affect his decision in this matter.

"I understand Mr Potter, and you must definitely do what is right for you, however, I would make two requests. First is that you please seriously consider Daphne's request, it's not like we need an answer anytime soon although I would prefer an agreement in place by the time Daphne is in her 20s." Harry was a little surprised at just how long he had to think on Daphne's proposal, 6 years was a long time.

Mr Greengrass looked incredibly serious as he made his second request. "The second thing I would ask is that you don't go talking about this to other people. This is family business between the House of Greengrass and the House of Potter. I understand that Miss Davis and Miss Granger both have a legitimate interest here and will be involved in the discussions, but please keep it between you four."

Considering how serious Mr GreenGrass was being, Harry had expected something far more from the man than a request to keep private matters private. "That won't be a problem sir, Daphne is a rather private person and I know she wouldn't want to be the subject of rumours. Whatever decision we make will be between us. You have my word on that." Harry reassured him. The Davises and Greengrasses left not long after, Daphne and Tracey both struggling to carry all of their purchases from Diagon Alley and muggle London. The teens said goodbye and promised to see each other on the 1st of September aboard the Express.

\---ϟϟϟ---

The last two weeks of the summer hols were mostly filled with books. Hermione had insisted that the both of them read all of their textbooks cover to cover in the time they had left. While Harry was able to distract her a few times so that they could relax, Hermione seemed to win far more often. Harry had no trouble whatsoever reading through his new Runes book or the Defence Against the Dark Arts book, the two subjects were interesting enough to hold his attention all on their own. Where he did have trouble, however, was with his new History of Magic book and his new Potions book. No matter what he tried, Harry just couldn't find the subjects interesting. In the case of History, it was just incredibly dry and boring; in the case of Potions, Harry couldn't see how his efforts would ever be worth anything as Snape was just going to give him a failing mark anyway.

In the end, despite how much it felt like it was turning his brain into jelly, at Hermione's insistence Harry read through each of his textbooks. And while Harry didn't see the point of it in regard to school, that Hermione pulled him back into her room for the night when he finished his last book was more than enough reward. The morning of September 1st finally came, and Harry and Hermione would be off back to Hogwarts. They had gotten everything ready the night before and spent the rest of the evening with Dan and Emma, Hermione taking in the last time she would have her family together until December.

"Harry, wake up." Hermione's voice pulled him from his sleep early that morning. He opened his eyes and even without his glasses he could tell Hermione was looking at him. And something was going on.

"Mione? What time is it? Are we late?" Harry pulled on his glasses and checked the glowing red numbers on the cheap clock radio next to his bed. 6:04. There were 4 hours until they needed to leave, and as they had packed the night before there should be no need to get up this early unless something was wrong. He glanced over at Hermione. She was still wearing her normal summer sleepwear, a spaghetti strap top and a pair of knickers, and unusually for being at home, her feline features were on full display, with her tail whipping back and forth projecting how tense she was.

“We’re not late.” Hermione was wound tight as a spring as she searched for her words. “I need you Harry. I was hoping it would be another few days. Why did it have to happen today?” Hermione's question was more of exasperation than one expecting an actual answer. It took a few moments for Harry's brain to catch up with what Hermione was saying. For her to go into heat today when they were travelling would make it, in polite terms, an awkward challenge.

Speaking of awkward challenges, Harry would have to get a potion from his trunk. The trunk that was downstairs next to the door ready to leave underneath Hermione's trunk. He climbed out of bed and, after giving Hermione a quick kiss, slunk down the stairs as fast and quietly as he could. He was glad that Dan and Emma were both still in bed, his boxers did nothing to hide what talking about sex had done to him. And it would be awkward as hell to be seen by them with a raging boner.

Harry quickly rearranged the two trunks, found the box that Hermione gave him, and pulled out a vial of potion. This was only the second potion he had had from the box, the first one covering both his birthday day and a few days later when Hermione's heat had brought them together. The two of them hadn't had sex since then, mostly because of circumstance. First Hermione had been away, then when Daphne and Tracey had visited they were suffering through a small heat wave and the idea of getting hot and sweaty just didn't appeal. After that they were focused on their studies, and while there was one time that they almost did, by then Harry's potion had worn off and Hermione's insistence on double protection and both of them being unwilling to stop to go get a vial had led to the two of them falling back on other ways to keep each other happy.

Harry ran back up to his room, potion in hand, and found his girlfriend laying on his bed, naked and waiting for him. He stepped into the room, drank his potion, and closed the door. 

\---ϟϟϟ---

Harry and Hermione arrived at King's Cross with 45 minutes to spare before the train left. They said goodbye to Dan and Emma in the car, rather than the two adults coming into King’s Cross as there was no convenient parking outside the station. Harry had Hedwig fly ahead on her own instead of confining her to a cage for the whole trip. His familiar was not really a fan of her cage; she would use it when it was needed but she much preferred an open perch and the open skies. 

Crookshanks was not so lucky, as his inability to make his own way meant that the cat carrier was his only option. Harry had had a laugh at Hermione bargaining with her cat, promising to let him out of his carrier as soon as they got a compartment on the Express and how she had gotten two whole tins of sardines for the cat lunch. If there was something that both Hermione and Crookshanks agreed on, it was fish; while Hermione most certainly had a much wider palate, it also couldn't be denied that she loved fish since her transformation.

The two of them found an empty compartment and revelled in once again being able to do magic. They levitated their trunks into the overhead compartments, and Hermione performed a charm she read about in their fourth year materials that were designed to keep a room cool for a few hours since the tail end of the August heatwave was still holding a little sway in London. She would probably cancel it as they travel North but right now the cool air was a welcome relief.

Harry, knowing that they would need some privacy for at least part of the trip, put up some silencing charms so that no one would hear them. He would have put a locking charm on the door but there were people who they wanted to see first. Daphne, Tracy and Neville definitely, but there were other more casual friends with whom they would like to catch up, such as the Gryffindor Quidditch team. This reminded Harry that they would need a new keeper this year. He wondered who McGonagall had picked to be captain. Probably, Angelina, she was in sixth year with Alicia (unlike Katie who was in her fifth year this year), but Angelina was the more responsible of the two. The twins were also sixth years, but Harry doubted that McGonagall could choose between the twins even if she thought they could be responsible.

Hermione let her cat out of its carrier, collapsed on one of the chairs, and pulled Harry down next to her. With Crookshanks in her lap and Harry to use as a pillow, Hermione took a nap to catch up on the sleep she lost that morning.

\---ϟϟϟ---

Daphne and Tracy were seated in the compartment with Harry and Hermione. The two girls had joined them not long after Harry and Hermione had finished their lunch. Hermione was in charge of lunch so it was a simple salad with tinned salmon. Cooking really wasn't Hermione's thing, but she knew enough to cut up some vegetables and then pour some store-bought dressing over everything. It hadn't been amazing, but it was edible.

The four of them chatted about the whole World Cup aftermath; without a subscription to the Daily Prophet, Harry and Hermione hadn't heard anything since the Davises and GreenGrasse's had left their home.

"Well it turns out the attack was just at the World Cup itself. We were completely safe in the Leaky…well as safe as anyone can be around a group of unknown drunk wizards." Tracy filled them in.

"Did they find out who it was? Was it really Voldemort's old supporters or was it just some drunk idiots?" Hermione asked. Daphne and Tracey both shuddered at the mention of Voldemort's name and shot Hermione a glare. Despite Rita's warning about the name, both Harry and Hermione had difficulty dropping the habit of using it.

"No clue for sure, they all got away. But I would bet they were genuine supporters. I heard my dad talking to a friend who had tickets and they were tormenting a muggle family who lived nearby. And don't forget, one of them most definitely was a death eater at some point. Only the death eaters ever knew how to conjure the Dark Mark," Daphne explained.

After chatting for a few more minutes, the compartment door slid open to reveal Draco Malfoy, apparently there for his annual 1st of September taunting. But instead of the usual vitriol directed at Harry and Hermione, he seemed taken aback to see Daphne and Tracy in the compartment with them. "Davis, GreenGrass, what are you doing here with Scarhead and the mog blood? I thought you had standards." The blonde asked, still with his customary sneer painted across his face.

"We are going over our Runes homework Malfoy." Daphne held up the rolled up sheet of parchment on her lap. The parchment was blank, but Malfoy didn't know that; Daphne had thought ahead to this possibility and had prepared for it. "Unlike you, some of us actually have ambitions beyond living off Daddy's wealth and power. Potter and Granger are our partners in our Ancient Runes class. Now, can you please say whatever it is you came to say so that we can get back to work? I have other things to do after this and you're delaying them." Daphne's Ice Queen persona was in full swing along with the hoity-toity attitude.

"Whatever. I just wanted to know if Potter plans to enter? It will be right up your attention-seeking alley, Potter, there's apparently even a prize." Draco's attention was now focused on Harry.

"I have no clue what you're talking about," Harry replied, not hiding the boredom in his voice.

"Don't tell me you don't know?" he said delightedly. “My God, I heard about it weeks ago. But then, Father's always associated with the top movers and shakers of society. Who are you going to hear of things from? Your pussy’s cat?” 

"Associated with? Is that what he calls it? At least Harry's never had to bribe someone just so that he can hang around for scraps of information. I wonder how many of those movers and shakers as you put it would spend more than 5 minutes with your father if he didn't have any gold," Hermione retorted.

Draco huffed. "you want to be careful who you hang around with, Greengrass. You don't want to be painted with guilt by association do you?"

"Like I said, just going over our Runes homework, and the longer you badger everyone the longer I will need to stay here. Now, why don't you just leave," and she waved her hand at him dismissively.

Draco slammed the door and stormed off, his two lackeys in lockstep behind him.

"Sorry I said that. You know we like you but If he knew the truth, he could make trouble for us in the Slytherin common room. I don't like it, but I would rather avoid that for as long as possible," Daphne apologized. They chatted for a while longer and actually did go over some of their Runes homework, but eventually the two Slytherins had to go, Daphne citing the need to go check on her sister.

\---ϟϟϟ---

The Great Hall was full of students waiting for the sorting to end so they could have something to eat. Harry and Hermione were quiet now that the first years had been brought in, but until now they had been discussing the strange, horse-like creatures that had been pulling the carriages. At first Hermione had wondered if it was some kind of illusion spell she had been hit with, as no one else was talking about them, but after first Harry and then Neville had told her that they could also see them, the three of them had started trying to work out just what the horse-like things were and why they could see them now. 

Harry watched as Colin's brother Dennis, the boy that ran into him in Diagon Alley a few weeks back, was sorted into Gryffindor. "Colin, I fell in!" Harry heard the excitable first year tell his brother. Harry clapped and cheered along with the rest but a part of him was worried that the younger Creevy would be like his brother and he would get even less peace then he did now.

He also watched and clapped politely as Astoria Greengrass was sorted into Slytherin. As much as the girl was a bundle of energy, Harry kind of liked her; anyone who could wind-up the unflappable Daphne like that could be fun. Just as long the Creevys and Astoria never teamed up. Harry felt a shudder pass down his spine at the thought.

The sorting finished and food appeared. Harry helped himself to steak and chips. He and Hermione had been together three times today and he had worked up an appetite.

=== much of the next part is lifted directly from Goblet of Fire=== ****

"So!" said Dumbledore, smiling around at them all. "Now that we are all fed and watered, I must once more ask for your attention, while I give out a few notices.

"Mr. Filch, the caretaker, has asked me to tell you that the list of objects forbidden inside the castle has this year been extended to include Screaming Yo-yos, Fanged Frisbees, and Ever-Bashing Boomerangs. The full list comprises some four hundred and thirty-seven items, I believe, and can be viewed in Mr. Filch's office, if anybody would like to check it."

The corners of Dumbledore's mouth twitched. He continued, "As ever, I would like to remind you all that the forest on the grounds is out-of-bounds to all students, as is the village of Hogsmeade to all below third year.

"It is also my painful duty to inform you that the Inter-House Quidditch Cup will not take place this year."

"What?" Harry gasped. He looked around at Fred and George, his fellow members of the Quidditch team. They were mouthing soundlessly at Dumbledore, apparently too appalled to speak. Dumbhedore went on, "This is due to an event that will be starting in October, and continuing throughout the school year, taking up much of the teachers' time and energy - but I am sure you will all enjoy it immensely. I have great pleasure in announcing that this year at Hogwarts -"

But at that moment, there was a deafening rumble of thunder and the doors of the Great Hall banged open. A man stood in the doorway, leaning upon a long staff, shrouded in a black traveling cloak. Every head in the Great Hall swiveled toward the stranger, suddenly brightly illuminated by a fork of lightning that flashed across the ceiling. He lowered his hood, shook out a long mane of grizzled, dark gray hair, then began to walk up toward the teachers' table. A dull clunk echoed through the Hall on his every other step. He reached the end of the top table, turned right, and limped heavily toward Dumbledore. Another flash of lightning crossed the ceiling. Hermione gasped.

The lightning had thrown the man's face into sharp relief, and it was a face unlike any Harry had ever seen. It looked as though it had been carved out of weathered wood by someone who had only the vaguest idea of what human faces are supposed to look like, and was none too skilled with a chisel. Every inch of skin seemed to be scarred. The mouth looked like a diagonal gash, and a large chunk of the nose was missing. But it was the man's eyes that made him frightening.

One of them was small, dark, and beady. The other was large, round as a coin, and a vivid, electric blue. The blue eye was moving ceaselessly, without blinking, and was rolling up, down, and from side to side, quite independently of the normal eye - and then it rolled right over, pointing into the back of the man's head, so that all they could see was whiteness.

The stranger reached Dumbledore. He stretched out a hand that was as badly scarred as his face, and Dumbhedore shook it, muttering words Harry couldn't hear. He seemed to be making some inquiry of the stranger, who shook his head unsmiling and replied in an undertone. Dumbledore nodded and gestured the man to the empty seat on his right-hand side.

The stranger sat down, shook his mane of dark gray hair out of his face, pulled a plate of sausages toward him, raised it to what was left of his nose, and sniffed it. He then took a small knife out of his pocket, speared a sausage on the end of it, and began to eat. His normal eye was fixed upon the sausages, but the blue eye was still darting restlessly around in its socket, taking in the Hall and the students.

"May I introduce our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher?" said Dumbledore brightly into the silence. "Professor Moody."

It was usual for new staff members to be greeted with applause, but none of the staff or students chapped except Dumbledore and Hagrid, who both put their hands together and applauded, but the sound echoed dismally into the silence, and they stopped fairly quickly. Everyone else seemed too transfixed by Moody's bizarre appearance to do more than stare at him. A few broke into frantic whispers apparently some of the students knew something about their new professor 

Moody seemed totally indifferent to his less-than-warm welcome. Ignoring the jug of pumpkin juice in front of him, he reached again into his travelling cloak, pulled out a hip flask, and took a long draught from it. As he lifted his arm to drink, his cloak was pulled a few inches from the ground, and Harry saw, below the table, several inches of carved wooden leg, ending in a clawed foot.

Dumbledore cleared his throat. "As I was saying," he said, smiling at the sea of students before him, all of whom were still gazing transfixed at Mad-Eye Moody, "we are to have the honor of hosting a very exciting event over the coming months, an event that has not been held for over a century. It is my very great pleasure to inform you that the Triwizard Tournament will be taking place at Hogwarts this year."

Harry didn't know what the tri wizard tournament was but evidently the Weasley twins did as one of them shouted "You're JOKING!" At the top of his voice. The tension that had filled the Hall ever since Moody's arrival suddenly broke. Nearly everyone laughed, and Dumbledore chuckled appreciatively.

"I am not joking, Mr. Weasley," he said, "though now that you mention it, I did hear an excellent one over the summer about a troll, a hag, and a leprechaun who all go into a bar.” Professor McGonagall cleared her throat loudly. "Er - but maybe this is not the time...no..." said Dumbledore, "where was I? Ah yes, the Triwizard Tournament...well, some of you will not know what this tournament involves, so I hope those who do know will forgive me for giving a short explanation, and allow their attention to wander freely.

"The Triwizard Tournament was first established some seven hundred years ago as a friendly competition between the three largest European schools of wizardry: Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang. A champion was selected to represent each school, and the three champions competed in three magical tasks. The schools took it in turns to host the tournament once every five years, and it was generally agreed to be a most excellent way of establishing ties between young witches and wizards of different nationalities - until, that is, the death toll mounted so high that the tournament was discontinued."

"Death toll?" Hermione whispered, looking alarmed. But her anxiety did not seem to be shared by the majority of students in the Hall; many of them were whispering excitedly to one another, and Harry himself was far more interested in hearing about the tournament than in worrying about deaths that had happened hundreds of years ago.

"There have been several attempts over the centuries to reinstate the tournament," Dumbledore continued, "none of which has been very successful. However, our own departments of International Magical Cooperation and Magical Games and Sports have decided the time is ripe for another attempt. We have worked hard over the summer to ensure that this time, no champion will find himself or herself in mortal danger. The heads of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving with their short-listed contenders in October, and the selection of the three champions will take place at Halloween. An impartial judge will decide which students are most worthy to compete for the Triwizard Cup, the glory of their school, and three thousand Galleons personal prize money."

"I'm going for it!" Fred Weasley hissed down the table, his face lit with enthusiasm at the prospect of such glory and riches. He was not the only person who seemed to be visualizing himself as the Hogwarts champion. At every House table, Harry could see people either gazing raptly at Dumbledore, or else whispering fervently to their neighbors. But then Dumbledore spoke again, and the Hall quieted once more.

"Eager though I know all of you will be to bring the Triwizard Cup to Hogwarts," he said, "the heads of the participating schools, along with the Ministry of Magic, have agreed to impose an age restriction on contenders this year. Only students who are of age - that is to say, seventeen years or older - will be allowed to put forward their names for consideration. This -" Dumbledore raised his voice slightly, for several people had made noises of outrage at these words, and the Weasley twins were suddenly looking furious - "is a measure we feel is necessary, given that the tournament tasks will still be difficult and dangerous, whatever precautions we take, and it is highly unlikely that students below sixth and seventh year will be able to cope with them. I will personally be ensuring that no underage student hoodwinks our impartial judge into making them Hogwarts champion." His light blue eyes twinkled as they flickered over Fred's and George's mutinous faces. "I, therefore, beg you not to waste your time submitting yourself if you are under seventeen.

"The delegations from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving in October and remaining with us for the greater part of this year. I know that you will all extend every courtesy to our foreign guests while they are with us, and will give your whole-hearted support to the Hogwarts champion when he or she is selected. And now, it is late, and I know how important it is to you all to be alert and rested as you enter your lessons tomorrow morning. Bedtime! Chop chop!" Dumbledore sat down again and turned to talk to Mad-Eye Moody. There was a great scraping and banging as all the students got to their feet and swarmed toward the double doors into the entrance hall.

=== end of copied material ===

Harry and Hermione followed the swarm of Gryffindors headed for their dorms. Harry could hear people were complaining about the lack of Quidditch, but most people were declaring that they were going to get around Dumbledore and enter the tournament. Harry thought about it himself briefly as they started up the grand staircase.

The promise of eternal glory fell flat, what was glory to him? As the holder of the title ‘Boy Who Lived’ he already had that, and he wanted it gone. Three thousand Galleons was tempting though. With Dan and Emma insisting that he save his gold as much as possible, he had started to wonder about, for what he was saving it? The idea of where he would live after he finished with school was a big one. He couldn't help but picture himself with Hermione and their own place, but houses cost a lot of money, much more money than he had in his vault. Three thousand Galleons, just short of fifteen thousand pounds, would be a huge help in getting a home for him and Hermione.

But at what cost? Dumbledore had said the death toll was too high for them to continue the tournament until now. And what about Hermione, did he really want to panic her just win a few Galleons? Sure they would help, but so would his deal with Garrick. He and Hermione could always do what everyone else did and just get a job. It couldn't be too difficult, people got the money to get a home all the time, they got jobs and earned the gold needed. It wasn't worth the risk or the worry it would cause Hermione.

Now that he thought about it, it would also worry Daphne, Tracy, Dan, Emma, Neville, Uncle Moony, and even his teammates on the Gryffindor Quidditch team. It was weird for Harry to realise just how many people cared about him, it was so different from how he grew up but he wouldn't change it for the world. 

After a few minutes of talking in the Gryffindor common room with a few people whom they hadn't seen on the train and had been seated too far away during the feast, they retreated to their new fourth year dorms. However, they didn't stay there for long, as Harry grabbed his invisibility cloak he had inherited from his father and, under its cover, returned to the common room. Hermione joined him not two minutes later, and after a little fumbling about she slipped under the cloak with him. The two of them left the common room and headed for the seventh floor and the tapestry of Barnabus the Barmy. After all, Harry, as the good boyfriend he was, still had to help Hermione with her issue.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N
> 
> Some parts of this chapter were lifted directly from Harry Potter and the goblet of fire. The rights to those bits belong to someone who isn't me.
> 
> Yes I am aware that guns in films are not really that realistic. But Hermione is a British teenager who spends most of her time in a Scottish castle. She has never seen a gun fired and probably hasn't seen a gun outside of TV or films so she assumes that movies like Die Hard are fairly accurate. Harry has seen a gun of course, but that is not common in the UK outside of shotguns in rural areas.
> 
> Actually one of my biggest nitpicks with JK Rowling is just how easily Vernon was able to get his hands on a gun in the first book. There are tight regulations in the UK about owning firearms. You can't just walk into a shop and buy one, and it's very unlikely that anyone would sell a gun to some random person they had never met. Not when Vernon could have been working with the police and he would have been facing 5 years in prison minimum.
> 
> Hermione’s in-heat issues are a little annoying here. When I started this fic I decided I would pay attention to dates and timetables, something JK was rather loose with (she had a werewolf riding a train that arrived at the school at night on a full moon FFS) So I made the rules for when it would hit Hermione knowing that having things like that and Hogsmeade weekends, holidays and full moons mapped out would help me. Now the timing is a little inconvenient but I kept the timing for consistency. Plus regular girls have their monthly when it happens and not when it's convenient as well so it adds a touch of realism. (Not that Hermione's being in heat is the same as her regular monthly, that comes a few days later for her.
> 
> I had intended for Harry and Hermione to run into the thestrals at the end of last year after the death of Auror Moonshine but I forgot to add that scene. Oops.


	10. Opening Moves CH10 the year begins

** Chapter 10 **

Hermione gave Harry a quick kiss before slipping from under the invisibility cloak and waiting for Harry to emerge himself. He did a few seconds later and Hermione admired the body she had become very familiar with over the last few months. With the help of puberty and not being sent back to the Dursleys to starve for a month, Harry had managed to fill out some. He was now a little taller than her and broader in the shoulder. He still had the willowy build of the seeker, but his frame was now filled with lean muscles instead of the jutting bones. Hermione deftly thought this was a vast improvement.

She kissed him again and had to hold back from running her hands under his already rumpled shirt. It wasn't being in heat anymore, just regular teenager hormones. "I'll see you later Harry. Love you." 

She slipped up the stairs to the girls dorms and opened the door as quietly as she could. Harry and Hermione had spent the night in the Room of Requirement, very much enjoying each others’ company as they dealt with the complications of her Kneazle side. Now it was early morning, and she needed a shower and to get changed for their first day of fourth year class. That was why she was sneaking into her dorm room; hopefully, she could avoid waking her dorm mates, and Lavender and Parvati's insane need for gossip.

As soon as she put her foot on the floor inside the room, however, there was a buzzing sound and the two girls that Hermione had hoped to avoid for a few more hours sat up and looked directly at her.

"Good morning you *dirty stop-out." Lavender grinned as she teased Hermione. "What time do you call this? What kind of girl are you? Staying out all night." It was at this point the girl lost her battle with herself and started giggling uncontrollably. Parvati took a different track and climbed out of her bed, grabbing Hermione and pulling her over to Lavender’s before sitting Hermione between the two of them. Crookshanks jumped off Hermione's bed and jumped up into Hermione's lap, pinning her into the coming awkward conversation.

"So what were you and Harry doing that has kept you out till six in the morning and left you with that huge smile?" Parvati asked suggestively. They both knew what Hermione had done, or more like they had guessed right.

Hermione wasn't going to give in that easily. "I don't know what you mean, Harry and I went for a walk and then fell asleep in front of the fire in the common room."

Lavender snorted. "You know, if you're going to lie you need to do better than that. I went down looking for you and you weren't in the common room."

Hermione stuttered as she tried to think of something else, but then she sighed. "Damn it. OK fine, I spent the night with Harry. You satisfied?" Hermione's face was pink from blushing.

The two girls devolved into giggling and sandwiched her between them in a hug. After a few minutes Parvati was able to get her giggling under control and was able to ask. "So what's it like?"

\---ϟϟϟ---

The full first week back was its normal chaotic self. September second had been a Friday, so despite the teachers treating it like a normal day the students were far more relaxed. After the weekend (that was filled with way too many people doing their summer homework than Hermione approved of), the week was full of teachers demanding the return of their homework and going over what they would be learning that year.

In the middle of the week, Neville cornered Harry as he was walking down to lunch. "Hey Harry can I talk with you a sec?"

"Sure, what's up mate?" Harry was curious, Neville didn't look nervous or upset so he assumed that whatever his dorm mate wanted to talk about wasn't anything to worry about. 

"I want to grab a book from the library anyway so I'll see you two at lunch," Hermione gave Harry a quick bump with her hip as her hands were too full of books to give him a hug then disappeared down a set of stairs.

"I was wondering if you remember the conversation we had last year?"

"You are going to have to be more specific than that mate. We had a few dozen conversations last year. Which one are you talking about?" And they had talked a lot; despite a rather rough start to the year, after which Neville and his grandmother had explained about their history with LeStrange, Neville had confessed to sometimes blaming Harry for the loss of his parents. Through the year, the two of them had talked more and more, and while Harry knew there were still times that Neville may not want him around, they were friends.

“The idea you had when you were helping me repot the Whomping Willow cutting,” Neville explained.

Harry wracked his brain, trying to remember what they had talked about. He had had two or three stays in the hospital wing since then. “Oh I remember. The damned shrub was going nuts trying to kill me and you had an idea for a project. Something about Whomping Willows having a brain?”

“Rudimentary memory, not a brain. And technically it was your idea." Neville grinned at him.

"Nope. Plant thing, that makes it your idea. I was just grumbling about the plant trying to beat me to death." Harry grinned back at Neville. While it was true the plant was trying everything it could to hurt Harry, it was also too small and weak to do more than a few bruises and a split lip. Harry often got worse than that playing Quidditch. "So why are you bringing it up now?"

"I just got permission from Professors McGonagall and sprout. I'm dropping Divination and I'm doing a personal project looking into the Willow. Well, I will be, if I can convince you and Ron to help me a little." He looked so hopeful that there was no way Harry could turn him down. 

And who could blame him; from what he heard, Professor Trelawney was absolutely horrible to Neville. Not in the same intentionally cruel way that Snape was, but Harry couldn't imagine what it was like having a teacher constantly telling you and the whole class that you were going to die a horrible gruesome death sometime in the near future. Especially when that prediction had less to do with magical leads to the future and more to do with reading a newspaper article about the fact that the person who tortured Neville’s parents had escaped from prison.

The two of them made their way towards the Great Hall for lunch as they talked. “What you mean is to be a test subject." Harry joked. "Of course I'll help. Just give me a heads up when you will need me and I'll do what I can." Harry would be glad to help. After last year, anyway he could help the guy who came with him to rescue Hermione, he would. "So how is the new wand working out for you?" They had had a few wand lessons so far and Neville should have gotten used to his wand by now.

"I love it. Every time I use it, it feels warm and inviting. It's the complete opposite to how my father's old wand felt. I wish I still had Dad's wand because it was Dad's, but I much prefer to use my wand. Everything just seems to be so much easier now. You were in McGonagall's class earlier, I never got a spell in its first class before. I was able to transfigure my worm into a slug half way through the lesson. That would normally take me a week of practice in the common room and it would have felt like I was fighting the whole way to get my magic to work. With this wand it feels more like an energetic puppy eager to learn a new trick." Harry had noticed when Neville completed his transfiguration. The whole class had, along with Professor McGonagall who had awarded Neville ten points for 'drastic improvement in your spell work'. Neville had even gotten the spell before a lot of the other students in the class.

They arrived in the Great Hall and the two boys started to serve themselves from the large cauldrons of chicken and vegetable soup in the middle of the table. Harry had just finished filling a second bowl with soup and adding a fresh buttered bread roll to each bowl when Hermione entered the Hall. After putting the books she was carrying on the bench next to her, she sat down next to Harry. Harry handed her her bowl of soup and asked, "Did you manage to get the book you were looking for?"

Hermione added some salt to her bowl as she answered, "Nope, someone has taken it out already. Probably one of the Ravenclaws, there are a few of them who like to check out the reader books early. I'll have to ask around in class."

"Which class?" Neville asked as he dipped a crusty bit of bread into his soup.

"Arithmancy. One of the older years mentioned the ' _ encyclopedia numarlica _ '; apparently the book details old ways of doing the calculation. McLaggen said it was easier to see the patterns if you also did the calculations a few different ways." Hermione explained as she stirred the soup in her bowl, encouraging it to cool faster. The warm soup was welcome. While the day wasn't too cold, it was a stark contrast in the northern castle to the city in the south of the country. A few degrees may not sound much but the sudden change was enough to be uncomfortable.

"So what do you think Defence Against the Dark Arts will be like this year?" Neville asked, before popping a bit of soup-soaked bread in his mouth.

"Well, everyone who has had a class with him seems impressed. Maybe we've gotten lucky and gotten another Professor Lupin rather than a Lockhart." Hermione answered before eating her first bit of soup.

"Anything but another Lockhart. I think I would prefer a Quirrel to another Lockhart." Harry shuddered at the idea of the pompous fraud.

"But Quirrell was a supporter of Voldemort and he tried to kill you!" Hermione sounded incredulous at what Harry was saying.

"And that is still better than having put up with Lockhart and his fame obsession. Give me a fight to the death over helping that git with his fan mail any day."

There was a sudden pain in Harry's right ear and a stern voice to go with it. "Harry James Potter, you will do everything you can to avoid fights to the death. Or God help you, I will make your life hell! Now promise me." Hermione was now gripping his ear, angry with his flippant attitude towards fighting for his life.

"OK OK, it was just a joke! I promise I'll try to avoid fighting for my life." The pressure on his ear disappeared and Harry could see a few of the other Gryffindors were amused by the display of loving abuse, but both Neville and Hermione looked upset. Harry mentally kicked himself, of course joking like that would upset them after what happened last year. Until then, apart from with the troll, neither of his friends had actually been in a fight for their lives. The skirmish from two months ago was still fresh in their heads. 

"I'm sorry guys I shouldn't joke like that. If it makes you feel any better, I promise if I can ever avoid someone trying to kill me by helping someone with their fan mail, then I'll do the fan mail. Just don't ask me to enjoy it." Harry tried to mollify his companions.

Despite herself Hermione couldn't keep from laughing at him. Once she stopped, she buried her head in his shoulder before saying "Good, I much prefer a miserable Harry that I can cheer up to a dead Harry."

"Same here mate. But I think I'll leave the cheering up to Hermione."

"Good. And it's not like it will be long until we find out." Harry said, as their first Defence Against the Dark Arts class with the new professor was right after lunch.

The three of them ate their lunch and chatted about things of no real importance with the other Gryffindors who were starting to fill the seats around them. Most people were talking about the Triwizard Tournament, and Hermione got drawn into a discussion with the twins about the dangers of past tournaments as she tried to convince them not to enter. Soon lunch was over, and Harry, Hermione, Neville, and the other Gryffindors in their year made their way to the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom.

They all filed into the classroom, and for once everyone arrived a little early, eager to see what the new Defence teacher was like. Harry had heard from people who were raised in the wizarding world that 'Mad-Eye' Moody was a bit of a war legend, having taken down more of Voldemort's followers than any other auror. Apparently almost half of the Death Eaters in Azkaban he was either responsible for catching or was credited with an assist.

He was also apparently extremely paranoid. The dark witches and wizards he had spent his career catching often had allies that had attempted to kill both him and people he cared for, and while Moody was still around, most of the people he cared about were not. Now the man was hyper aware of the potential for the dark arts, to the point he wouldn't even drink or eat anything he had not prepared himself.

The man walked into the classroom from the door to the Defence professor’s office, which was a unique feature of the classroom used to teach Defence, and before he said anything to the class he cast a load of spells at the teacher's furniture at the front of the room. None of the spells had any effect at all, but Harry recognised some of the spells from the book that had been assigned to them this year. They were detection spell’s, apparently the ex-Auror turned Defence teacher thought it was possible that one of the students would have trapped the desk while he was out of the room. harry wanted to scoff at the idea, but considering the number of Death Eaters the man was said have caught, and the number of children of Death Eaters that were in this school, it was entirely possible that Mad-Eye had deprived a number of them from having contact with close family as they grew up. If that was the case, then maybe a little caution was warranted.

Apparently satisfied that there was no trap waiting for him, the new professor tapped the board with his wand and the words ‘Professor Alastor “Mad-Eye” Moody’ appeared on the board. “Right, that’s me, ‘Professor Moody’, your new instructor.” He didn't sound like he cared much about the title ‘professor’. “Now Mr. Lupin has left me detailed notes on what he covered with you. From what he writes, you are well instructed on the problems that can be posed by dark creatures. What he didn't touch on much, and what I am here to teach you, is how to deal with a dark wizard who is threatening your life.”

“Now there are three tools that everyone should use to keep themselves alive can any of you tell me what you think they might be?” Hermione's hand shot into the air like it always did. “OK, miss?”

“Granger, professor. A strong knowledge of counterspells to undo any magic used on you.” Hermione answered.

“Not a bad guess, but wrong. Anyone else?”

“A strong shield charm?” asked Neville.

“Useful, but again no.”

“A strong curse to send back at them?” offered Seamus.

“No, but a good offensive spell can be a lifesaver in the right situation.”

Harry thought about it; what had helped him when he was fighting Bellatrix? Then, it came to him and he raised his hand. When the professor nodded to him, he asked, “Dodging, sir?”

“YES!” Mad-Eye turned to the board and wrote

_ 1. _

  1. _dodge, duck and cover_



_ 3. _

He turned back to the class “Dodging is only part of it, but the core of the skill is don't get hit. Almost no spells, and this includes the worst spells, can affect you if they don’t hit you. There are a few, such as  _ bombarda _ that if it hits the ground or a wall near you you can be caught in its effect, but even with these spells it is better to be hit with the after effect than the spell itself. So, moving out of the way, or dodging as Mr. Potter put it, is a big part of it. If you can get something between you and the person trying to maim or kill you, then he can't hit you with a spell. That is cover. You should always be aware of potential cover in your environment. Not just obvious ones like walls or trees, anything that can block spells or line of sight can be useful. Oh, and five points to Gryffindor for Mr. Potter. Right, any other suggestions?”

Hermione raised her hand again. “Running away?”

“YES! Abso-fucking-lutely yes!” Moody turned back to the board and wrote ‘ _ retreat _ ’ in the number 3 position. The class was both surprised and amused by the professor’s language. “Running away, leaving the area, retreating. Whatever you want to call it, for the everyday wix that is what you should look to do before you try to fight. You are, and most of you will remain, civilians. It's not your job to take down dark wizards. Your goal is to survive for long enough to escape, and then to let the professionals do their job. Yes, sometimes it's not possible to escape, you could be trapped. But you should always first be looking to escape. Five points to Gryffindor for Miss Granger.” 

There were a few more guesses from the class for the first answer, but the professor shot them down before giving up and telling them. “CONSTANT VIGILANCE!” he bellowed at them before turning to write it on the board. Moody underlined it and circled it as he talked. “Constant vigilance is the number one, most important part of this list, and it is the very foundation of personal defence. Without it there is no dodging behind a wall or running to somewhere safe. If you don't know that someone is about to attack you, it doesn't matter if it's a dark lord or a muggle with a beater’s bat. it’s almost always the shot you don't see coming that gets you. The more observant you are, the harder it is for someone to get the drop on you. And the harder it is for them to get the drop on you, the harder it is for them to attack, maim and probably kill you.

“Yes, kill you! Don't look at me like that!” Mad-Eye rounded on the student who scoffed at his rhetoric. “You think after someone attacks you they are going to leave you alive to go tell your story to me and my old colleagues? Stuff like that only happens in bad writing or in school playgrounds. In reality, once they attack you, you are a witness, a liability that needs eliminating. Yes, it's harsh, but I would rather you all live. I have had to tell families that their loved ones are gone too many times. Better you live with a bit of paranoia than risk that.”

The man stood at the front of the class for a few moments silently. Harry couldn’t tell for sure, but he thought the man was remembering things from his past rather than pausing for dramatic effect. "Three rules. Constant vigilance, duck and cover, and run. Learn them, know them, live them. I want an essay from each of you, expanding one of these three principles and how you intend to incorporate them into your lives. In the meantime, we are going to go over some useful spells that you can use when things don't go according to plan. Who can give me the incantation and the wand movements for the Disarming Charm?”

\---ϟϟϟ---

“Mr. Potter, I need to have a word with you, could you stay behind a few minutes please?” Professor McGonagall asked at the end of class. Harry wondered what he had done to attract the attention of his Head of House. It was still the first full week of term, and Harry hadn’t had a chance to break any rules yet. He hadn’t even had an opportunity to be late with any homework yet. 

The rest of the class shuffled out, but he could see Hermione and Neville waiting in the hall for him. He walked up to the professor's desk and asked, “What can I do for you, professor?”

“Mr. Potter, have you thought about what you are going to do with your free period this year?” the strict teacher asked from behind her desk.

“I haven't decided yet,” Harry replied. “I know I will be helping Neville with his project, but i'm just helping him run his tests. I'd like to go for another Runes project, but I just haven't decided what I want to create yet. I had an idea for temperature-controlled clothing and bedsheets, but when I looked it up it already existed.”

Professor McGonagall frowned slightly. “This is what I was afraid of, Mr. Potter. The headmaster has decided that while you could make something impressive again this year using runes, he feels that you would not truly learn anything. He has decided that you need to do a project using another discipline or he will require you to either join a class like Divination or Muggle Studies, as you won't be able to catch up in Arithmancy even with Miss Granger’s help, or you still have the option to study and retake your Latin exam.”

“But professor, I'm making great progress with Runes. Ollivander has started selling the rings. Surely it’s better for me to continue working on that?”

The professor sighed before answering. “I brought that exact thing up to the headmaster, and he said that ‘A student’s time in Hogwarts is for learning. If Mr. Potter wants to continue to invent once he leaves that is his business; however while he is here he needs to pursue something that will aid his education, and given his talent with Runes another project will not allow that.’ He is apparently set on you doing something else.

Harry stood there for a minute while he processed what the professor had just told him. “Professor, is there nothing I can do about this?"

Professor McGonagall looked at him sadly before saying. "You could try to appeal directly to the headmaster, but I don't think it will do you any good. It appears that his mind is set on this subject. Is there nothing else that interests you Mr. Potter, maybe in my subject? You have been doing much better over the last year. You were barely able to scrape an Exceeds Expectations in your second year, but I was a little disappointed you missed out on an Outstanding at the end of last year. You were only a few marks off."

Harry thought about it a second. "Not unless you think I have what it takes to become an animagus."

He had the pleasure of seeing something he didn't often see on the stern professor's face: a look of surprise. "I'm not sure Mr. Potter, becoming an animagus is not something to be undertaken lightly. If I may ask, why are you considering becoming an animagus? If it's just a whim of the moment, then I will have to refuse."

"It's actually something I was considering last year but felt it was more important to focus on Runes. If I can't do that then I might as well ask."

"Why were you thinking about this last year?"

"Professor Lupin. After we found out about his condition, he told me that my father and his friends learned to be animagus to help him. They intended to register once the war was over but then Godric's Hollow happened and they were all dead or in prison. I thought it would be a good way to get to understand him better. I know it's not easy to become an animagus, but that's part of the point. I want to understand how far Dad would go for a friend."

McGonagall looked resigned and completely unsurprised that his father was an animagus. She sighed again. "I'll consider it if you can cast a full Patronus. I know Professor Lupin taught you last year, and that it was strong enough that together with Miss Granger you were able to drive off a fair number of dementors. It takes a similar level of power and control to cast a Patronus as it takes for the animagus transformation, and a similar level of dedication to learn. If you can do that, then it at least won't be impossible for you to learn."

Harry sighed with relief. He moved back from the woman's desk so that there was room, pulled out his wand, and concentrated on the feelings he got from Hermione. Not just happiness, that was too narrow an idea, and while it was an accurate description of the emotions needed it didn't convey the depth you had to feel to fuel the spell. He layered happiness with hope and love and a thousand little things that added up to a sea of positive emotions and with a quick flurry of his wand he shouted " _ Expecto Patronum _ !" The silvery mist burst from his wand like a torrent and formed itself into the stag that was his Patronus.

Hermione burst into the room as well, her wand in hand looking for whatever had caused Harry to need to summon his Patronus. Her own silvery mist flowing from her wand and forming her lioness as she moved. "Where is it? Where's the Dem…" it was then that Hermione realised that Harry was showing their professor his Patronus and not that he wasn't in danger. "I… uh… I'm sorry professor, when I heard… I assumed… I'm sorry." Hermione was blushing as she stammered out her apology.

"It's quite alright, Miss Granger. No harm done, though in the future I hope that you consider that I am quite capable of protecting a student if there is a need." Professor McGonagall was looking at Hermione and as such didn't notice the frown that passed over Harry's face at her words. "However, given that you have passed the same test I have just given Mr. Potter, it is only fair that I offer you the same opportunity. Miss Granger, how would you like the opportunity to learn how to be an animagus with harry?"

Hermione's response was predictably intense. First shock at being offered such an opportunity, then pure joy at the opportunity to learn such magic. "Really? It's supposed to be really complicated, but I would love to try and learn." Hermione tried to keep her excitement down but failed to keep the grin of her face and the energy in her voice.

"Then meet me here Friday at 7:00...no, the two of you are busy on Fridays." The older woman looked at them knowingly. "Best make it Saturday at 5:00. We will talk over the procedure and if you still want to go through with it. It is not an easy undertaking, after all. Now off with the two of you.”

\---ϟϟϟ---

Albus Dumbledore sucked on a lemon drop as he contemplated the Potter problem. He had intended to use whatever the boy came up with for his personal project as an excuse to personally tutor the boy so that he could slowly bring the boy, bit by bit, into his influence. A weekly session training the boy to listen to him and to trust his judgement would have been almost too easy: rewarded with a scrap of knowledge when the boy did as instructed, punished with extra essays and assignments when the boy deviated from his plan. Not all that different from how you train a krup. 

But the boy had chosen one of the few possible projects that he couldn't conceivably claim to be the better teacher. Even though he was the one who had guided Minerva in gaining her animagus form, he himself had never bothered with going through the steps needed to gain his own form. There always seemed that there was something more pressing to focus on. And in the decades between, Minerva had taken the transformation from a useful skill to an art form. He doubted there was anyone in the whole of Europe who could transform as effortlessly as his former student.

He would have to come up with another way to bring the boy to heel. The prophecy had been clear on the risks, and he wasn't going to let another Dark Lord come to power on his watch. It was his responsibility as the receiver of the prophecy to protect Britain from the horrors of a third Dark Lord. If he didn’t, then who knows what disasters could be visited on the people.

  
  


A/N

Dirty stop-out - a person, more likely a woman, who spends the night away from home for a sexual liaison. It can be cruel, but is more commonly used in friendly teasing.

I wanted to give Mad-Eye more of an old soldier feeling. What do you guys think?


	11. Opening Moves CH11 A Berthday and A Date

**Chapter 11**

Harry was walking down one of the castle's many corridors muddling over everything Professor McGonagall had told him and Hermione about the animagus transformation. There was a lot to take in; first was just how much who he was would affect his form. Apparently the form you took as an animagus was a reflection of who you are at your core. Finding that form was done by using a potion containing the leaf of a mandrake that you had to keep in your mouth for a lunar month before you could brew the potion. Once you had brewed the potion, you had to perform a ritual twice a day as the sun crossed the horizon while holding the potion, until there was a lightning storm during which you had to drink the potion while standing completely naked in the eye of the storm. And if you messed up even one step you had to start all over again.

All that was just to find your form and to make your body mutable. Once you knew what your form was, you had to work out what your form said about yourself and you needed to accept it before you could complete the transformation. The problems were numerous; one was timing. Electrical storms didn't exactly happen every day in the UK, and when they did happen it was not normally over Hogwarts. Timing would be everything. If they made the potion early you could end up stuck performing the ritual twice a day for months. It would also be easy to miss one of the rituals. A night in the hospital wing, a late astronomy class, or even just getting caught up in your studies and missing sundown. It wasn't just going to a class room a few times a week to practice.

The second problem was Hermione. Her potion mishap from the second year was raising its head again. Professor McGonagall thought that the Kneazle magic, tangled with her own, would guid Hermione's form. That meant that the truths and aspects of herself that needed to be acknowledged to achieve her animal form may not be tied to her current form but the form she would have had without the polyjuice. Or, if they were tied to her new form, they may be qualities that Hermione herself did not have. Kneazles were intelligent, yes, but they also tended to be aloof, and while Daphne could fit that description Hermione couldn't. 

Harry smiled to himself as a thought stuck him. If it was a desire to cuddle in front of a warm fire that represented a Kneazle, then Hermione wouldn't have to dig deep at all. Thinking of Hermione reminded him that her birthday was fast approaching and he needed to get things ready. Harry had decided that he needed to up his game for Hermione's birthday. He didn't think he had done badly last year, though compared to what she had done for him for his birthday it seemed lacking. 

\---ϟϟϟ--

Hermione woke on Saturday the 17th and smiled. She was curled around Harry, who was idly stoking one for her ears as they laid in their bed in the Room of Requirement. Last night had been their regular Friday night date; one thing she had missed at home with everything else that was going on was their one night a week to just be together. Yes, they spent more time having fun together over the summer, but the structure of having one night set aside had made that time special in her mind. They had become incredibly bold and decided that they were going to keep spending their date  _ nights _ together and to take advantage of the double bed the Room could provide them.

"Morning Beautiful." Harry's voice came from behind her head somewhere, then she felt Harry press a kiss just behind her ear, which was probably all he could reach without moving them both. She smiled and snuggled into him more. "Are you looking forward to today?"

She nodded an enthusiastic yes. Harry had informed her yesterday that they would be celebrating her birthday today. Her birthday was actually on the 19th but that was also a Monday this year. So, rather than trying to fit a celebration in around their 1st day of the week, they were going to take advantage of Saturday and celebrate then. Harry had been cagey about what he had planned, but he had done so well last year that she was sure she would enjoy it.

"So would the birthday girl like to get up for breakfast." Harry asked her. Hermione shook her head. "Would you like to stay here while I go get you breakfast?" Harry asked giving her another option.

Hermione thought about it a second, before shaking her head again. "Let's just stay here for another hour." She decided as she snuggled into her Harry pillow. A few seconds later she felt his arms wrap around her.

\---ϟϟϟ--

Breakfast turned out to be mostly a repeat of the year before: French pastries, orange juice, and fruit. Harry had updated the selection to include hot chocolate after he had found it on the breakfast menu when they were in France, and the two of them enjoyed their little breakfast together. Afterwards the two of them relaxed by reading a book together in front of the fire. Hermione loved it. As much as she enjoyed the more physical aspects that their relaxing had grown to include, she still loved the times it was just her and Harry, talking or reading a book together.

At around midday, there was a knock at the door. Hermione had no idea who it was, as they had never been visited while in the room before. She climbed out of Harry's lap and went to open the door. Daphne, Tracy, and Neville were there; all three were each holding a wrapped package and simultaneously all wished her “Happy Birthday Hermione!”

Hermione invited their three friends in but gave a start of surprise as she turned back into the Room. It hadn't changed, but it was now decorated completely differently. The table that had held their breakfast was once again full, only this time with finger foods like sandwiches and sausage rolls. There was also a plate of prawn cocktail Vol Au Vent and another of smoked salmon and cream cheese canapés. In the center of the table was a cake that, if her parents saw it, was sure to earn a lecture on the dangers sugar poses to your teeth. The Room was also decorated with blue, purple, and pink streamers along with a matching banner that read 'Happy Birthday Hermione!' Harry was standing next to the table also holding a wrapped present and smiling at her. “Surprise!"

Hermione couldn't hold herself back, she jumped at Harry and wrapped her arms around him, pulling him as close as she could. Her nose was filled with a scent that was  _ Harry _ : something peppery from the body wash he used, a hint of the wood polish he used on his broom, and the ever present musky scent that drove her feline side crazy.

Hermione was indeed surprised, but now she thought about it was obvious that Harry would do this for her. The problem was that she had just become accustomed to not celebrating her birthday with people her own age. There had been a few birthdays when she was little, back when it was parents who decided who went to the party, but when it came time for Hermione to invite her friends there hadn't been any. Hermione 'the bookworm', 'the know it all’, and 'the teachers pet' just wasn't good at making friends. 

Then she came to Hogwarts. First year was a total wash; she hadn't become friends with Harry and Ron until the end of October. Second year, both Harry and Ron had wished her a happy birthday and had given her a card. It hadn't been much, but it had been enough. Last year Ron had been acting like a prick over Crookshanks, so Harry had arranged for just the two of them to spend the day together. Hermione had just gotten used to having only family caring about her birthday. Well, family and Harry, but Harry was almost family.

But if she had thought about it, it was obvious that Harry would go to the same trouble for her birthday that she had for his birthday. It wasn't in his nature to let something like that slide, she wasn't sure if it was knowing how bad it felt to have your birthday ignored or if it had more to with holding on tight to any sort of love Harry received. Now she was thinking about it, it was probably both.

"Thanks Harry. Thanks everyone. I didn't expect all this." Hermione's smile threatened to split her face, it was so wide. 

"Well that is sort of the point. Else it wouldn't be a surprise." Daphne answered, the amused sarcasm clear in her voice and the friendly smirk she wore before she and Tracy sandwiched Hermione in a hug. "Happy 15th Hermione." The two of them said together 

"Thanks guys. But you know my birthday is not till Monday right?" Hermione, always a hugger, held tight to her two friends.

"Close enough, and we are holding your celebration today, so to us you’re fifteen. Even if it's not quite true." Neville, who had moved to stand next to Harry, said.

"Anyway, today is your party so today is your birthday, so that means birthday presents." Tracy held out a thin square present wrapped in flower blue paper. The enthusiasm the girls had was infectious and Hermione couldn't help but smile.

Hermione ripped the paper from the present revealing a wizarding record, 'The Weird Sisters’ #1 hits'. Hermione thanked Tracy. "I thought after the summer you'd like to try some wix music." Tracy told her. 

Daphne handed Hermione a package wrapped in the same flower blue paper that her girlfriend had used. Hermione could tell it was a book even before she opened it and excitedly tore off the paper, revealing the title:  _ A Witch’s Guide to Wizarding Manners and Etiquette _ by Elaine Greengrass.

"My great great aunt. She had a health scare in her 20s and was worried she wouldn't see her daughter grow up. In the end she was fine and lived to see her 148th birthday. She published the book later in life, but it never sold well. It's hard to find a copy now outside of our family library, and we have like 30 copies just sitting around. I thought you would like one. Not only because you were raised in a different culture, but because I know you love rare books and that one is signed by my aunt...Plus, you're probably going to be the next Lady Potter. You need to know the rules just so you can intentionally snub the blood snobs," the last two sentences were whispered only to Hermione.

Hermione pulled the girl into a hug. "I love it, thank you." Daphne looked a little surprised to be pulled into a hug again, but from the look on her face it was a good surprise. 

Neville went next and handed Hermione a present that was obviously another book, this one wrapped in red and gold paper. Hermione tore off the paper again and looked at the cover.  _ A Comprehensive Guide to British Relations with Our Native Creatures _ , by Evard Selwyn. "Thanks Neville." Hermione clutched both the books to herself with the record sandwiched between them.

Hermione didn't want to put her books down, but she had to in order to open Harry's gift. Harry had wrapped his in blue paper as well, only his was the exact shade of periwinkle that she loved and didn't have a flower pattern. Whereas with the last two presents Hermione knew they were books as soon as she held them, the only thing she knew for sure was that Harry's wasn't a book. It was flexible, yet it wasn't flexible enough to be clothing. 

She pulled the wrapping from her gift and looked at what she had. It took a moment of moving the leather straps and turning it over for her to work out what it was. It was a book bag, made from dark brown leather and easily big enough to accept the huge tomes that the wizard world favoured. The flap on the front had a pouch that was perfect for keeping her ink and quills in it, and the lower right corner had her initials H.J.G. stamped in gold.

Before Hermione could say anything Harry started talking. "The bag has an expanded space in the main pouch as well as feather light charms built in, so you can carry all the books you want without worrying about doing your back in. The front pocket also has cushioning charms on it so that you won't need to worry about your quills getting bent or your ink bottles breaking -" Hermione interrupted Harry by jumping him and giving his lips another job to focus on as she kissed him.

“Thankyouthankyouthankyou!!!” Hermione thought Harry had found her the perfect gift for her, now she could carry all the books she was reading! She was usually reading at least one for each class and one or two books for light background reading. It wasn't possible until now to carry at least nine books with her wherever she went. This would save her so much time spent fetching books that she could put into actually reading them. 

After the gifts, the four teens settled down to hang out. The Room provided a magical gramophone for them so Hermione didn’t have to go back to her room and get hers to play her new Weird Sisters album. They danced and ate lunch, and once they had their fill, Harry lit the fifteen candles that were on the cake and her friends embarrassed her for a few minutes singing “Happy Birthday” before Harry presented her with her cake. Hermione thought for a few seconds and made a wish as she blew out the candles, her friends and Harry clapping and cheering.

\---ϟϟϟ--

The week after Hermione's birthday saw Hagrid bring out a number of crates in Care of Magical Creatures that it turned out were filled with pink fleshy slug-like creatures that he dubbed Blast-Ended Skrewts. The skrewts were apparently not in any books, and their project for the year was to understand the creatures. What did they eat, what were their defences, and what uses do they have?

"Now, you need to understand that these skrewts don't have a classification yet. Not even I know all the ways they could hurt ya. As such, we will be taking every precaution we can for your safety. Understand that Malfoy? Until we can determine what precautions we need to use for these guys specifically, we use them all."

Harry looked over at Hermione and she looked about as happy (or unhappy) as he felt with this new turn in the class. It was one thing to learn about how to handle hippogryphs, as plenty of wizards kept them as pets and to harvest their feathers and the occasional shed claw. It was likely you would run into them. Dragons too made some sense as there were wild dragons in the UK, the Welsh Green and Red as well as the Hebridean Black. Understanding the creatures helped understand the potions ingredients that were harvested from them. However, studying an unclassified creature that no one knew much of anything about seemed like a job for a qualified wizard or at the very least N.E.W.T students. Just how had Hagrid gotten his hands on these creatures?

"So dragonhide gloves on everyone and let's see if we can work out what they eat. Everyone collect a skrewt and choose something to see if ya can tempt them."

The class that followed was an orderly chaos. The skrewts, it turned out, were capable of shining and sucking blood, and about half way through the lesson they discovered why Hagrid christened them 'blast-ended' when one got free from Ron and exploded its rear end to propel itself away from the redhead. Ron was fine, though his eyebrows were a little singed.

After the class was lunch so Harry and Hermione stuck around to speak to Hagrid. The large professor hummed to himself as he packed the skrewts back in their individual crates.

"Uh Hagrid." Harry approached the question he wanted to ask carefully. "Hermione and I just wanted to know, umm...where did you get the skrewts? I mean, you didn't win them in a card game or something like that, did you?" Harry winced as he sounded too accusatory in his opinion.

"Wha? Win em in a card game? You'd never find these babies in a card game. They were sent by the Ministry. Oh! Shouldn't have said that. Ah it's not like it matters if you know. The Ministry sent ‘em to me for the tournament. Give the champions something they can't have read about. A test of the unknown I think they called it." Their friend looked a little annoyed with himself that he had once again told the teens something he shouldn't have. Harry and Hermione relaxed. If the Ministry had sent the little monsters then at least Hagrid wasn't going to be in trouble. At least as long as one of the damn skrewts didn't blow a student’s hand off when it blasted off.

The two stood around chatting with their friend-turned-professor for a little bit just catching up, but eventually made their excuses and departed when Hagrid invited them in for some lunch. As much as the two liked the man, it wasn't enough for them to subject themselves to his attempts at making food.

\---ϟϟϟ--

September drew to a close and the last weekend of the month was, as always, a Hogsmeade weekend. After losing out on visiting the village for almost the entire previous year, Harry and Hermione were excited to visit the village again. In fact, the only students more excited than Harry, Hermione, and of course Neville to see the village were the third years who hadn't been before. They joined the throng of students queuing to get into the school carriages to be taken down to the village, where Harry and Hermione once again saw the strange horse-like creatures pulling them.

"I can't believe I forgot to go to the library and look up those horse things." Hermione was talking to herself. "That's not like me at all."

"I wonder what they are?" Harry replied. "If I was the only one who could see them I would wonder if I was going nuts, but we can both see them."

"That we can both see them, but others still can't, tells me that they were always there. They aren't new, something about us has changed." Hermione reasoned things out.

"They are thestrals," interrupted a voice from behind them. Harry and Hermione turned to see who was talking. It was an older ravenclaw guy that was standing behind them in line. "What are Thestrals?" Harry asked. 

"The horse-like creatures pulling the carriages. They are carnivorous winged hairless horse-like creatures with bat-like wings" Hermione looked over at the carriages before nodding. "Yes, Thestrals are normally invisible unless you have seen a person die." The Ravenclaw explained. 

"Auror Moonshine." Harry whispered, and Hermione looked upset to be reminded of the man who had given his life trying to catch LeStrange and save them. While Harry was still unconscious in the hospital wing at the end of last year, Hermione had tried to write to Auror Moonshine's family to offer her and Harry’s condolences, and to thank them for the man who had saved them from LeStrange. However, when she had written to Madam Bones for their contact information, she had learned that Auror Moonshine was a war orphan, not unlike Harry. There was no family to write to.

"Thanks for telling us about the Thestrals." Harry thanked the N.E.W.T. student, chatting for a minute while they waited in line before climbing into one of the thestral drawn carriages. The village of Hogsmeade was as good as the two teens remembered. The picturesque scene that looked as if it had come right out of a fairy tale was a welcome change to the castle. After a month of nothing but the same walls it was nice to have a break, even from such an amazing place.

Hermione cuddled into Harry's side as much to hide from the slight chill as to be close to Harry as they walked from shop to shop. Much to what Harry suspected would be Dan and Emma's disapproval, Harry dragged Hermione into Honeydukes and bought enough sweets and chocolate for the two of them to last at least until the next Hogsmeade weekend. They wandered the shops, mostly browsing but they did pick up a few things. Some owl treats for Hedwig, and Hermione needed to replace a hairbrush after hers was savaged by Crookshanks. Hermione spent some time looking at a pair of dragon leather boots before she decided against it and put them back. Then, it was to the only shop in Hogsmeade that made Harry feel inadequate, 'Tomes and Scrolls.' 

Hermione was like a kid in a sweetshop as she almost danced down the isles of books, Checking one title after another, looking for something to keep her interest, or perhaps one that she just hadn't found and read in the Hogwarts library yet. After about ten minutes Hermione had a stack of books that was probably over a meter high and Harry had to step in

"Can you actually afford all these, Mione?" Hermione looked at the stack and Harry could see her doing the mental mathematics, and her wince was all he needed to understand the answer to his question. 

"Damn it." Hermione started to put a few of the books back. Harry made a mental note of the books that Hermione returned to the shelves, if he ever wanted to surprise her it was worth having a list of books she wanted to fall back on.

After another ten minutes Hermione had whittled the steak of books down to seven and was now holding two in her hands trying to decide which of the two to keep and which to return to its shelf. Knowing what Hermione could be like when having to choose between books like this, Harry swept in and took the decision out of her hands. If he did nothing, they would be there for half an hour while she added up the pros and cons of each book and tortured herself with the decision. So, Harry did the only sensible thing and took both of the books from her hands.

"HARRY JAMES POTTER!!!" Hermione growled out his full name. But Harry just smiled and retreated to the checkout counter where the old wizard who owned the shop was watching the two of them with a half amused, half worried smile over what they would do to his book.

Harry put the two books on the counter along with 5 Galleons he had fished out from his pocket. "I'll take these two please."

"Harry, what have I told you about spending your money on me. You can't afford it." Hermione had switched from angry at Harry for taking the books to exasperation at him for spending money on her again. 

"I have more than enough to buy a few books. Your mum dragged me around Paris and bought me enough clothes that I didn't need to buy any this summer, so the money is nothing." Harry explained then switched to a singsong voice. "And who said I was buying the books for you?" Hermione stopped and looked at him in surprise. "I'm buying the books for me." Harry finished in a matter-of-fact tone.

"But one of the books is on Arithmancy, a subject you don't take, and the other is written in Latin, a language you can't read." Hermione was back to exasperation. 

Harry grinned. "It's my ridiculous story and I'm sticking with it. Of course, as I'm such a good boyfriend I don't mind sharing my new books with you."

"You know Harry sometimes I don't know if I want to kiss you or punch that grin off your face," Hermione said as she put the other five books on the counter and put 14 gallons, a major chunk of the 30 gallons her parents had given her to last until Christmas break, on the counter with the books. 

"Well I know which I prefer." Harry grinned at her while the old man rang up the books in silence.

"But which do you deserve?" Hermione was trying not to smile at this point. 

"Probably both."

"Probably?" Hermione couldn't keep the smile off her face as she asked. 

The old man handed them their change, a few Knuts for Harry and a handful of mixed silver and bronze for Hermione, along with receipts. Hermione started adding the books to her bag. Ever since her birthday, Harry had almost never seen Hermione without the bookbag he had gotten her. She carried it everywhere from breakfast until she turned in for the night. Even on their date night the bag came along, even if it did sit forgotten next to the sofa for most of the night.

Harry helped her add the books to the bag and was just about to add the two he had bought when Hermione stopped him. "Those are your books Harry." She grinned at him as she spoke. "You should carry them.” The two of them playfully bickered as they left the shop, as despite the argument Hermione was carrying the two books, holding them to her chest. Harry knew that Hermione didn't actually want him to give in and carry the books. 

They found their way to the last stop for the day, The Three Broomsticks. They had to sit at the bar as the other tables were all full, and Hermione ordered them both drinks and a meal, then paid for them before Harry could try to pay. It wasn't as much as the books, but Harry knew it was Hermione's attempt to keep things equal between them. 

\---ϟϟϟ--

The first Hogsmeade weekend seemed to act almost as a signal to the staff of Hogwarts. They were very aware that the school would have visitors for the next Hogsmeade weekend in October, as they were suddenly hyper aware of every little thing that was out of place and were very vocal about getting it fixed. Filch had reduced one group of first years to tears when he berated them for tracking mud into the entrance hall after the path to their Herbology class had flooded a little due to rain. The most common detentions that all the teachers handed out were switched from lines to polishing armor or the wooden banisters on the grand staircase, as Ron found out when he forgot to do a piece of homework that Professor Sprout had set them. It hadn’t helped when the Weasley twins had pranked Filch by letting off a dozen dung bombs in the man's office with him locked inside, in revenge for the group of first year Hufflepuffs he had made cry.

Throughout the month of October the Castle gradually took on a cleaner, more refined look. In some ways, it lost some of its charm in Harry's opinion, but it also looked good. The polished wood and metalwork shone like mirrors, making the halls seem brighter; the colours in carpets, rugs, and wall tapestries were more vibrant than Harry had ever seen. Even the dungeons were brightened with new sconces for the torches, replacing the rusted rings with black cast iron.

Now it was the last Friday of the month, and next week would be half term. It was looking to be a fun weekend for the school, as the weekend was a Hogsmeade weekend and Monday was Halloween. However, Harry groaned as he thought about Halloween and the argument he had had with Professor McGonagall at the end of their last animagus tutoring session. The drawing for the champions would be held at the Halloween feast, and although the Halloween feast was technically mandatory, Harry had never actually attended. It was accepted by most of the professors that forcing Harry to attend a celebration on the anniversary of his parents death, a celebration that had become about celebrating the wider ramifications of what happened to the Potters that night, was more than a little crass.

However, Professor McGonagall had informed him that the headmaster had decided that Harry had to attend the feast this year because of all the foreign guests. Harry hadn’t taken that well and had argued that it wasn't right, that he didn't care what Dumbledore said, he wouldn't go and had even at one point started shouting expletives at the professor. Hermione had really laid into him for swearing at Professor McGonagall, but the professor had just stood there and taken it, and then had docked him a single house point. She gave him a short lecture about controlling his temper, informed him that he would be required to attend, and then dismissed them.

It took Harry a few hours of calming down before he could read between the lines of what Professor McGonagall had said and done, and for him to realise that she agreed with him. She also thought that it was inappropriate to make him attend the Halloween feast, but that her hands were tied by her boss. That was why she had only deducted a single house point, and why she hadn't stopped him from shouting at her. She was giving him a chance to get it out of his system. Harry had a few issues with how Professor McGonagall had done things since he started attending the school, but it was times like these that reminded Harry why the Head of Gryffindor was his favourite professor.

Harry and Hermione were now lined up with the whole school waiting for the people from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. The evening was chilly and Hermione had opted to wair her hair band as it would also keep her ears warm. There was some speculation about how the two schools would arrive, with some ridiculous ideas such as the Durmstrang students arriving riding dragons or Beauxbatons apparating their whole school to the grounds of Hogwarts. It didn't even seem to matter to the people saying such things that those ideas were impossible. Hermione guessed that they would arrive by portkeys, as she had read that in  _ Hogwarts, A History _ that the Headmaster was able to create portkeys that could bypass the school's wards.

After about twenty minutes of waiting, there were a few shouts about a ship's mast from the students near the lake. Harry looked and, sure enough, in the center of the lake there was a ship's mast growing out of the lake. The mast had a dark green, almost black sail hung from it, and Harry could see the same symbol of a double headed eagle that Hermione had shown him in a book she had found on the Triwizard Tournament: the Durmstrang coat of arms embroidered in golden thread on the sail.

The ship continued to grow from the lake, and soon an old sailing ship made of dark wood sat in the middle of the lake, the late October sunset causing the golden gilding that framed the top of the deck to glint like fire. The ship started to move across the lake until it was as close as it could get to the castle without running aground. Suddenly, a dock started to grow from the shore until it ran directly alongside the ship. A number of people, big strong men from what Harry could see from this distance, jumped from the ship with ropes and tied off the ship. Then, with the help of some of the people still on the boat, they secured a set of stairs to the side of the ship that lead down to the docks.

People started to climb down the stairs and line up on the dock. Harry wondered where the students were, as these people were far too big to be teenagers; however, once they were all lined up and started walking to were the Hogwarts students were waiting, Harry got a clearer view of the group and realised that it wasn't that the people were big (though a few of them were definitely built), it was that each of them was wearing a heavy fur-lined cloak that added to their frames.

As they got close Harry heard Ron telling Seamus that one of the students was Viktor Krum, the star seeker of the Bulgarian national Quidditch team. Harry had no clue what Krum looked like, but given how Ron had spent the first few weeks bragging that he had been in the top box for the final of the Quidditch world cup and had gotten to shake hands with all of the Quidditch players, Harry assumed the redhead knew what he was talking about.

The man leading the fifty or so Durmstrang students, who also wore a fur cloak but of a much higher quality, walked up to Dumbledore. "Dumbledore!" he called heartily as he walked up the slope. "How are you, my dear fellow, how are you? Tell me, has Madame Maxime arrived yet? I wanted to be here first but we hit a patch of rough weather in the North Sea." The man's voice boomed and his accent was thick, Eastern European or possibly Russian.

"Blooming, thank you, Headmaster Karkaroff. We are still waiting on Madame Maxime, though I don't think she will be long. Do you want to wait inside? I take it you recall the way to the Great Hall." Dumbledore smiled at the man, but the smile seemed to lack some of the warmth the headmaster usually exuded.

"Ah the old castle, how I have missed her. It feels like just yesterday that I was running around worrying about my exams here. But no, I think we will wait for Madame Maxime here. The night is warm enough, and is it not polite for a gentleman to wait for a lady?" Karkaroff's accent was thick but his English had a well practiced quality to it.

Dumbledore agreed with the Durmstrang headmaster, who quickly organised his students to stand with the Hogwarts students but separated from them at the same time. Harry could hear Run grumbling that Krum was so close yet too far away from the boy to ask him for his autograph. Personally, Harry thought this was a good thing. He doubted that after such a long trip that Krum would be happy to have a bunch of people swarming him begging him to sign bits of parchment. 

They all continued to wait for the Beauxbatons students to arrive, but they didn't need to wait too long as soon the quiet atmosphere was broken. "There!" yelled a sixth year, pointing over the forest.

It was too far away for Harry to guess what it was but it was obviously big; a few students did have some wild guesses. As the gigantic black shape skimmed over the treetops of the Forbidden Forest and the lights shining from the castle windows hit it, they saw a gigantic, powder blue, horse-drawn carriage, the size of a large house, soaring toward them, pulled through the air by a dozen winged horses, all palominos, and each the size of an elephant.

The front three rows of students drew backward as the carriage hurtled ever lower, coming in to land at a tremendous speed - then, with an almighty crash that made Neville jump backward onto a Slytherin fifth year's foot, the horses' hooves, larger than dinner plates, hit the ground. A second later, the carriage landed too, bouncing upon its vast wheels, while the golden horses tossed their enormous heads and rolled large, fiery red eyes. Harry just had time to see that the door of the carriage bore a coat of arms (two crossed, golden wands, each emitting three stars) before it opened.

A boy in pale blue robes jumped down from the carriage, bent forward, fumbled for a moment with something on the carriage floor, and unfolded a set of golden steps. He then sprang back respectfully. Harry saw a shining, high-heeled black shoe emerging from the inside of the carriage - a shoe the size of a child's sled - followed almost immediately by the largest woman he had ever seen in his life. Harry had often wondered if Hagrid was the only person of his size around, having never seen another like him, but now here in front of him was the evidence that he was not.

"My dear Madame Maxime," Dumbledore said. "Welcome to Hogwarts."

"Dumbly-dor," said Madame Maxime in a deep voice. "I 'ope I find you well?"

"In excellent form, I thank you," said Dumbledore.

"My pupils," said Madame Maxime, waving one of her enormous hands behind her.

At her gesture, students in light blue robes began to descend from the carriage, a number of them shivering in the mid-autumn chill. Harty was just about to turn back to listening in on Madame Maxime and Professor Dumbledore when Hermione grabbed his hand. "Harry look! It's Ali! It's Ali!"

Harry looked where Hermione was pointing, and sure enough it was Alison, the same Alison that they had spent the first part of their summer visiting. She was waiting there, wearing the pale blue robes of a Beauxbatons student.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N
> 
> For all of you who predicted that Ali was a witch, you can give yourself a cookie. Well, I suppose you can always give yourself a cookie, I can't stop you, but it would be an empty cookie rather than a well-deserved reward cookie.


	12. Chapter 12 - lighting the fire

The three groups of students, about 50 each for Durmstrang and Beauxbatons and a mass of Hogwarts students that completely dwarfed them, started making their way to the castle, those unfamiliar with the grounds following a few of the Hogwarts students who had taken the lead. Hermione dashed off through the crowd and straight to the blue robes of the French school. "ALI!" The French girl was surprised to hear someone calling her name and turned just In time to get a face full of bushy hair as Hermione pulled the girl into a hug.

"Hein? Qu’est-ce qui se passe...." [What? What’s going on?] it was then that the surprised girl realised who had grabbed her. "Hermione! What are you doing here?" The shock of seeing Hermione clear on her face.

"What am I doing here?! This is my school. What are you doing here? Why didn't you ever tell me that you’re a witch?!”

Ali had finally separated enough from Hermione to look at the girl and with practised grace did the air kiss thing, the name of which was currently slipping Harry's mind. "I thought you were a mundane, I couldn't say anything. What about Dan and Emma? Oh what about Harry, is he a wizard?" If anything Ali sounded more excited than Hermione. 

"Mum and dad are not magical, I'm muggle-born-"

"First-generation," Ali stated firmly.

"...what?" Hermione sounded confused for a second.

"Not muggle-born. First-generation. The term muggle is insulting. Don't internalise such things. You are a first-generation witch, born to mundane parents. Now you were telling me about Harry. Is he a wizard?"

"Yes, he’s here somewhere. I was standing with him until I rushed to catch you." She admitted sheepishly as she scanned the crowd looking for him. She spotted him just as he was able to slip around a few of the Beauxbatons students who were rubbernecking the encounter of one of their own was having with a Hogwarts witch.

"Hey, Ali." The French girl swooped on Harry and he found himself once again in the air-kissing ritual. "So you're a witch. What about Steven and Sarah? Are they magical or are you muggle-born?" Harry asked. He had heard what Ali said about first-generation vs muggle-born, but the familiar phrase slipped out without him thinking.

Ali bristled a little bit at his phrasing before saying "First-generation, _never_ say muggle-born. And papa is a mundane, not a muggle. Ma mère is a first-generation witch. She married mon père, a wizard not long out of school, and they had me. But mon père died of dragon pox." A sad look came over Ali's eyes. Despite how much he knew that she loved Steve and the role he played in her life. It was clear that she still missed her first father a lot. Harry could understand that, he missed his parents and he had almost no memory of them.

They continued their walk to the castle, a few people in blue robes directing questions at Ali, although it was in French so Harry didn't understand what they said. Not that it was hard to work out, they were asking about him and Hermione, probably wanting to know who they are, and how Ali knew them. As they walked up to the castle, Harry got to watch the foreign students react to the view. The Durmstrang students looked impressed with the castle, but the Beauxbatons teens seemed a little disappointed. Harry asked Ali about it.

"It's nothing Harry, it's just that Beauxbatons is, well...beautiful. Whereas your castle looks very...functional. Beauxbatons is a grand palace with wide sweeping gardens."

"That makes sense, Hogwarts was built when the magical world was practically at war with…mundanes. There was a lot less worry about needing to stay safe when Beauxbatons was built. They were able to focus more on elegance than the safety of the students from those outside its walls." Hermione explained. Harry noticed her pause, almost saying “muggles” but switching to “mundanes” for Ali's benefit. Harry knew he would have to ask Ali what her problem was with the word muggle.

They walked up the main stairs through the huge doors and into the entrance hall. Ali shivered and hugged herself. "Damn. I was hoping it would be warmer inside."

"The Great Hall is warmer but your robes are really too thin for Scotland. And it's only going get colder over the next few months." Hermione explained as Ali looked on in horror.

"It gets colder?" She almost looked ready to cry. Harry guessed that growing up in the south of France didn't give her much experience with the cold.

Harry cast a warming charm on her before saying. "The students are allowed to visit the nearby village tomorrow. Perhaps you should see if you can come as well. We can probably buy you a thick winter cloak that would match your school robes."

Ali looked torn for a second before she nodded. "I will ask Madame Maxime, but we probably can go. We were told about Hogsmeade and how it was one of the only magical-only places in Europe. " 

They continued towards the great Hall Madame Maxime and headmaster Karkaroff were standing either side of the door directing their students as they passed. Ali walked up to her headmistress and they started talking.

"On est avec les Serdaigles, ceux avec la bannière bleue. [We are sitting with the Ravenclaws, the one with the blue banner.]"

"Est-ce que je peux m’asseoir autre part? Je viens d’apprendre que ma demi-belle-cousine est une sorcière. [Is it possible i can sit elsewhere? I just found out that my sort of step-cousin is a witch.]"

"Votre quoi? [Sort of step-cousin?]"

"Mon beau-père est anglais et il a un ami qu’il considère comme son frère. Ils se sont rencontrés à l’université, puis il voulait devenir un chef cuisinier et est allé en France. Je pensais qu’ils étaient normaux mais en fait, Hermione est une sorcière de première génération. [My step-dad is English, he has a friend who is like a brother. They met in university before my step-dad decided to become a chef and move to France, but his friend-brother’s family are all mundane, or at least I thought they were, but turns out that his daughter Hermione is a first generation witch.]"

"Et vous ne le saviez pas? [And you didn't know?]"

"On évitait d’en parler à cause des règles de sécurité. [We both kept it from each other because of the secrecy laws.]"

"Bien. Tu peux aller t’asseoir avec ton amie. [Very well, you may sit with your friend.]"

"Merci madame. Une autre chose, Hermione a mentionné que les étudiants de Hogwarts avaient le droit d’aller au village d’à côté ce weekend, et ils m’ont invitée. [Thank you madam. There was one more thing. Hermione mentioned that the Hogwarts students were being allowed to go to the local village this weekend. They invited me to go with them.]" 

"Pas de problème. J’allais justement vous dire demain que vous aviez aussi le droit d’y aller. [That won't be a problem. I was going to tell you and the others tonight that you were allowed to go tomorrow anyway.]"

Harry hadn't understood what the two women were saying but Hermione understood enough that she was able to give Harry the just of it. So he was expecting it when Ali turned and joined them instead of following the mix of Ravenclaws and Beauxbatons students headed to the eagles’ dining table.

"Madame Maxime said it was ok for me to sit with you" Ali smiled, glad that she would get to spend most of the year with Hermione instead of trying to cram everything into a short summer vacation. Harry led them to the table and they sat down with the other Gryffindor fourth years. There were a few looks from the other Gryffindors wondering why one of the foreign witches was sitting with them, rather than at the Ravenclaw table with the rest of her school. Harry and Hermione had a third year student slide further down the table to make room for the three of them before pulling off their cloaks. Hermione didn't even think before she pulled off her hair band and took her seat.

Harry watched as Ali stared at the back of Hermione’s head. In an instant he realised that Hermione, so used to being in Hogwarts where there was no point in hiding her feline features, had just revealed them for the first time to Ali. "Hermione. What, what has happened to you?

Hermione turned back to Ali, confused for a moment until she realised that Ali was looking at her ears. "Oh, I forgot about telling you the real story about what's happened to me in school." Ali looked at Hermione with a look of hurt on her face. "I thought you were a mug-sorry, mundane. I couldn't tell you about everything. Sit down and I'll tell you everything."

And so Hermione did. She told Ali about the troll, Fluffy and Quirrell, but was interrupted by the headmaster before she could start explaining her second year at Hogwarts. Dumbledore warmly welcomed their guests, not only the students and head teachers of the visiting schools but also a few Ministry personnel there to oversee the start of the tournament. There were two Heads of Ministry departments, 'Magical Games and Sports' and 'International Magical Cooperation'. The first was headed by a man called Ludo Bagman, whom Harry thought was the guy who did the commentary at the World Cup, but as he had only listened to it on the Wizarding Wireless he couldn't be sure, while the second was led by a man named Bartemius Crouch. There was also the Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge and the hateful pink-clad witch whom Fudge had brought with him to the school the year before.

Honestly, Harry could see no real reason for the Minister for Magic himself to be here. He seemed to just be taking the opportunity to enjoy a perk of the job and have a nice dinner on someone else's coin. The two department heads though, were a study in contrast. The head of International Magical Cooperation was thin, neatly groomed and held himself stiffly with a stern expression. The head of Magical Games and Sports, however, was portly, with robes untucked and completely relaxed with a huge grin on his face.

Dumbledore finished his welcome speech and suddenly the tables were full of food. The kitchens had outdone themselves; the tables were full of things like steak and chicken, like normal, but there were also things Harry had never seen at Hogwarts, at least not in the Great Hall. Some like bouillabaisse he recognised as French, but the dishes he did not recognise he assumed were other European foods he was ignorant of.

Hermione jumped back into an explanation to Ali, telling her about the petrifications and the polyjuice. Harry filled Hermione's plate with some of the fish stew while Ali took the bouillabaisse one. Harry also selected a meat dish for himself that he hadn’t seen before. Once Hermione was finished with their second year she told Ali everything that had happened last year, from Harry using accidental magic to aerate to her home to Bellatrix, and even how she found her Patronus form. During the tale Ali was shocked, scared, pissed off, and amazed. She went from hugging Hermione in parts to ready to storm off and kill someone in other parts.

"So let me get this straight. You made polyjuice potion, but instead of using human hair you used the hair of a kneazle? God, Hermione, how can you be so brilliant one moment and mess up so much the next? Do you realise the amount of prejudice you will face for not being a _'pure human'_ on top of what you're already going to get for being first-generation? Especially In this country." The anger was clear in her voice when she said “pure human”, she obviously hated people who held beliefs like that. She pulled Hermione into a tight hug.

"I am still just human." Hermione said a little put out. "It's just permanent spell damage. And honestly I got lucky, I think they are kind of cute."

"I'm talking about perception, Hermione. People are going to see the ears and tail and make assumptions." She pulled Hermione tighter against her, obviously worried about the girl whom she considered family.

Things quickly calmed down and the conversation moved to other topics; first up was how Hermione had hidden her feline traits over the summer. Harry explained about the accessories he had made for Hermione to function in the mundane world. Ali was impressed with his skill and said it was impressive for someone with little more than a year of classes in runes. She even asked for a hairband that had the same ability to change colour and pattern, and Harry agreed to make one for her.

They talked about the difference between Hogwarts and Beauxbatons and how their schools approached teaching magic. Ali filled Hermione in on her plans to become a healer and told Hermione how her studies were progressing. They were enjoying the conversation so much they almost didn’t realize when the main part of the feast melted away and was replaced with desserts. Like the main feast, the desserts were just as varied with items Harry had never seen at Hogwarts before, yet his favourite of treacle tart was an option so Harry picked that. Soon the delicately crafted concoctions of sugar were gone as well and Dumbledore rose to speak.

"Ladies and gentlemen, it is finally time." He motioned with a hand and the large double doors that separated the Great Hall from the entrance hall opened, revealing Percy Weasley holding a wooden chest. The chest was old and covered with faded runs that had once stood proudly on its surface but had been rubbed away with the passage of years. Percy walked directly to the headmaster and presented him with the chest before leaving. Dumbledore turned the chest to face the students as he opened it. As the box opened, the inside was bathed in a flickering azure light. Dumbledore reached into the chest and withdrew an old wooden cup.

"This is the Goblet of Fire, an ancient magical artefact that was created for the first Triwizard Tournament. Any student who wishes to compete in the tournament must use a blood quill to put their name on a sheet of parchment and add that parchment to the goblet. By entering a piece of parchment with your magical signature embedded within, you enter a binding magical contract. Once you do, should your name come from the goblet on the third day during our Halloween feast you will be bound to compete. There will be three challenging tasks designed to test the three champions. Tasks that carry with them great risks that only the strongest among us can hope to overcome and gain the prize offered to the victor: Three thousand Galleons prize money, international fame and eternal glory.

I will remind the students of Hogwarts only those who have completed their Ordinary Wizarding Levels will be permitted to submit their names to the goblet. I will personally be making sure that no one who was born on or after September 1st 1978 will be able to approach the goblet. The goblet, a blood quill and a box of booklets containing the tournament rules will be set up in the entrance hall tonight and will remain there until the start of the Halloween feast. That leaves you with about 70 hours in which to decide on if you wish to enter. Don't make this decision lightly: remember, if your name comes from the goblet you are bound to compete. Now that that is out of the way I will just say one last welcome to Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, and good night." With that the headmaster turned to the minister and the other employees and started to chat, but Harry was too far away to hear what he was saying.

Harry, Hermione and Ali got up and started making their way to the entrance hall where they would say goodnight. Ali let out a groan and Harry smiled; the French witch had eaten with the best of the table, but when it came to dessert the French witch was only rivalled by Ron with how much of the chocolate cake she ate. They were just getting to the doorway when a rather attractive blonde girl dressed in the blue robes of Beauxbatons came rushing over to Ali.

"Excusez-moi Alison, j'espérais que tu me laisserais emprunter tes amis pendant quelques instants. J'ai besoin de parler à quelqu'un de cette… école mais je ne sais plus à quoi il ressemble. J'espérais que tes amis pourraient le pointer en dehors?" ["Excuse me Alison, I was hoping you would let me borrow your friends for a few moments. I need to talk to someone from this… _school_ but I don't know what he looks like anymore. I was hoping your friends could point him out?"] The girl jabbered in French.

"You know it's rude to speak French when half the people in the group you are talking to don't speak French, Fleur." Ali admonished the girl. "But I'm sure they can help you find who you are looking for."

"Sorry I don't mean to be rude but I sound like an, how you say, air head in English." The girl stammered out an apology. She was half right, her English lacked confidence and her thick accent only made it worse, but she was perfectly understandable. 

"You send better in English than I do in French." Harry joked.

Hermione bumped him with her hip before asking the girl. "Who are you looking for? Do you know what house or year he is in?"

The girl smiled at Hermione. I don't know what house but his name is Harry Potter and I think he would be a fourth year."

Harry went to reply but Hermione got there first. "And what do you want with Harry?"

Fleur eyed Hermione. "It is a matter between the House of Delacour and the House of Potter, it wouldn't be proper to discuss it with anyone but Mr. Potter."

"I am Harry Potter, and anything you have to say to me you can say to Hermione." Harry wasn't going to let some French woman he didn't know push Hermione away, it didn't matter how pretty the French witch was. 

Fleur looked at Ali for her to confirm that Harry was actually who he said he was, and when she nodded Fleur turned back to Harry. "My apologies, Warlock Potter. I am Fleur Delacour, eldest daughter of the house of Delacour in France. But please call me Fleur."

"Please call me Harry, and this is Hermione." Harry said.

Hermione wrapped her arm around his and pulled herself closer to Harry. "It's a pleasure to meet you Fleur."

Fleur nodded to Hermione and returned to Harry. "My father asked that I approach you regarding some matters that have been left unresolved between our two houses since the passing of your parents. These matters have been left in limbo too long and we request the input of the House of Potter.

"What sort of things are there between our houses? This is the first I have heard of any dealings with another house."

A look of surprise passed over Fleur's face for a moment and she hesitated before she said, "There are a few matters. For example, we have been managing a property of yours in France and the money that was left with us to pay the property tax has run out. The property has a quantity of elf made wine that was produced in the last thirteen years by a couple of house elves that live there, but we don't have the right to sell the wine to cover the bill. I was hoping we could make an appointment to discuss everything in the next few days."

It surprised Harry to learn that he had a property in France. Not just a property, but he apparently had house elves. He thought about what Fleur had said and it sounded like her family had really gone out of their way to help where they could. Harry would definitely meet with the witch if he actually had a property in France, he had no doubt Hermione would love that. "My weekend is fully booked already, how does Tuesday work for you?"

"Tuesday is good for me. Unless I get chosen to participate in the tournament, but if I am we can reschedule."

They said goodbye to Fleur soon after that and wished Ali a good night. Normally on a Friday the two of them would configure the Room of Requirement for a date, but after the feast and with them having access to Hogsmeade the next day they decided that they would just go to bed.

**\---ϟϟϟ---**

Harry and Hermione waited in the entrance hall for Ali, and Harry was amusing himself by examining Dumbledore's age line. He casually tossed a bit of old torn parchment at the line to see what would happen. The parchment crossed the line for a second then flew back at Harry and hit him in the face. "Clean up your mess." Hermione admonished him before returning to reading the copy of the rules booklet she had picked up from the table that had appeared in the entrance hall overnight.

Harry did before returning to examine the age line. He wasn't going to try and cross it; he had already seen what the result of that was earlier today, when two Ravenclaws had tried to get around the protection with an ageing potion. The result had been a couple of beards that put Hagrid to shame and a trip to the hospital wing to have them removed.

Harry had also watched as some Hogwarts students walked through the line and added their names. At one point Harry felt a little left out as the entire Gryffindor quidditch team, minus Harry, had added their names to the blue flames. 

Harry's interest in the line wasn't purely academic. While he had no interest in entering the tournament, he was worried that his name would come out anyway. The simple fact that the draw was on Halloween was enough to set his hairs on end. Since his arrival at the school, Halloween had always been the start of whatever was going to try and kill him this year. A troll let in by Voldemort's meat suit, a millennia old basilisk woken up and released from the Chamber of Secrets, and Bellatrix LeStrange's first attempt to kill him. Despite the fact that entrance needed a piece of parchment signed with a blood quill, being forced into a gladiatorial death game that he wasn't qualified for would just fit the pattern so well at this point that it was hard to relax.

While Harry was idly translating the runes that were visible in the line itself, the students from Durmstrang all arrived together and one by one each sighed a slip of parchment with the blood quill and entered into the goblet of fire before disappearing into the Great Hall for breakfast. It wasn't long until the Beauxbatons students arrived and proceeded to do the same as the Durmstrang students, though over half of the Beauxbatons students picked up a copy of the rules first and read it thoroughly before signing a slip of parchment. In the end, unlike the Durmstrang students five of the Beauxbatons students (two wizards and three witches) chose not to enter their names, at least not yet. They still had a few days to enter if they decided to.

Ali saw the two of them and waved them over as she walked towards the Great Hall. "Morning you two."

"Morning. Sleep well?" Hermione asked.

“Indeed,” Ali replied as the three of them went to breakfast. Hermione was happy to see that croissants had apparently been added to the breakfast rotation and proceeded to devour three before grabbing an apple. Harry had a few pieces of toast and a couple of poached eggs, and Ali had decided to try the kippers.

Not long after breakfast, the three of them headed down to the village. Due to Ali’s shivering they decided to pop into Gladrags’ robes for all occasions, to get her a thick winter cloak before exploring the rest of the village. Ali, being Ali, had decided that a cloak wasn't enough and had bought herself a whole new outfit, including a pair of dragon leather boots that were not too dissimilar to a new pair Hermione had gotten herself in Diagon Alley over the summer. 

Harry thought the boots were a good idea as the shoes that the Beauxbaton girls were wearing with their uniforms were not going to help them much when trying to get to breakfast after the snow set in, in just over a month. After Gladrags’ they went to the sweetshop. Honeydukes was always packed on a Hogsmeade weekend and the extra hundred students from the continent only added to the overcrowding, the red and blue robes of the visitors standing out in the sea of black.

A few of the Beauxbatons students had stopped Ali and asked about her new cloak and boots, so she had directed them, with some help from Harry and Hermione, to the shop. If nothing else, it seemed that the Triwizard Tournament would be good for Hogsmeade's economy. Harry and Hermione showed Ali around the rest of the village, but nothing else piqued her interest until they arrived at Tomes and Scrolls, the Hogsmeade book store. The two women rushed in like they were five year olds being let loose in Honeydukes for the first time. Harry knew for Hermione it would be bittersweet because she had already put a large dent in her spending money during her last visit to the shop, and she wouldn't get any more until they went home for Christmas. Harry wished he could just buy all the books Hermione wanted for her, but he knew she would never accept.

They spent an hour in the bookshop. Ali bought herself five new books and Hermione had settled on getting herself one. Ali, seeing how morose Hermione was at only getting herself one book, had promised to let Hermione read her new books once she was done with them. After the warmth of the shop, Ali really didn't want to go back out in the cold and advocated for returning to the school where it was warmer. Harry and Hermione both had other ideas though, and after assuring their French friend that their destination would be warm and cosy, took Ali to the Three Broomsticks. The place was indeed warm and cosy, but also packed; the three of them were unable to get a table and instead sat at the bar, Harry and Hermione drinking warm butter beers while Ali (being of age) was drinking hot mulled wine.

**\---ϟϟϟ---**

Harry hated Halloween, yet this was probably the best Halloween he could ever remember. Mostly because his day had little to do with Halloween. Hermione had found the perfect way to distract him, sex. It wasn't exactly a plan; Hermione had gone into heat again and needed him. So the two of them had retreated to the Room of Requirement and spent the day alone. Hermione had decided to take the opportunity to see if she could time when they would be together so that it would be between classes if it was a regular Monday instead of the first day of half term. They were successful, so he and Hermione wouldn't need to miss class on one of Hermione’s special days. They would probably need to skip lunch, but it wasn't as though missing one meal would hurt them.

Between bouts of trying to turn his girlfriend into a pile of quivering flesh with a very happy smile, Harry wondered about how he was so much better than he was this time last year. Or more precisely, why it was so bad last year. Sure, Halloween had never been happy but he didn't normally collapse into a weepy child. When he had told Hermione she had thought it was a combination of finally being away from the Dursleys permanently and the dementors pulling everything to the surface. The foul creatures had been placed all around the castle, and while the school wards had protected them from the worst of the effects, nothing could keep them out entirely **.**

They spent the whole day together without leaving the Room. Dobby had brought them a plate of ham and cheese sandwiches around lunch but apart from that, they were alone. At four-thirty, Hermione was starting to push Harry to get ready to leave for the Halloween feast and Harry (not looking forward to watching people celebrate the fall of Voldemort as it felt to him celebrating the end of Harry's family) was considering trying to persuade Hermione to skip the feast even if they got detentions. Detentions were probably a better option in Harry's opinion, but they were interrupted by a knock at the door.

The two of them stared at the door and the knocking sound filled the room again, and Hermione called "come in." Whether because the person on the outside of the door opened it, or some quality of the room opened it once one of the people inside wanted it to be open, but it did open and revealed the figure of Professor McGonagall.

"Well, at least the two of you are dressed and ready for the feast. I half expe…never mind. I came to get the two of you for the feast."

"How did you know where we were, Professor? I didn't think anyone saw us coming here." Hermione asked the professor. 

"Miss Granger, you and Mr. Potter have been disappearing nearly every Friday night for over a year. Do you really think I didn't take the time to find out where you ran off to? If it wasn't for the fact that Madam Pomfrey has forbidden the teachers to interfere in your relationship, and that you, Miss Granger, have maintained your position as the top student in your year, and you, Mr. Potter, have actually improved, I would have interfered long ago." The stern professor told the two of them.

Hermione bit her lip and after steeling her nerves asked, "Did Madam Pomfrey say why she didn't want any of the teachers to interfere?"

"No, Miss Granger. When asked, she cited doctor-patient confidentiality. But I am a cat animagus, Miss Granger, so I can hazard a guess. As I have been telling you, you can't complete the transformation without a thorough understanding of the animal. Now come, we need to make our way down to the Great Hall. Mr Potter, I know you don't want to attend, and to be honest, I agree with you. But at least everyone will be focused on the tournament this year.” Harry nodded, it was true that the vast majority of the focus would be on whose name was going to come from the cup and not on the anniversary of the end of the war.

They made their way down to the Great Hall and joined all of the students as they headed to the feast. The food was the same great quality it always was for Hogwarts feasts, again the only difference being food from all over Europe added to the standard Hogwarts fair. Harry, not particularly hungry, just added a couple of pieces of chicken and some small potatoes to his plate to pick at.

**\---ϟϟϟ---**

The flames in the goblet flared up, almost costing Headmaster Dumbledore his eyebrows. The azure flame lept from the cup into the air, reshaping itself into a Triquetra that hung in the air. The Triquetra was one of the world's oldest runes; there were some examples that were over five thousand years old. It was so old that it was one of the hardest runes to use. There was one thing that all rune sets agreed on: the Triquetra meant three together as one. However, because it had been around so long it meant different things to lots of people, so exactly what three were one was very different. If you used it with Celtic runes you would get a different result than if you used something else, and if you mixed your rune alphabets the results were at best unpredictable.

There was a sudden explosion of fire at the centre of the Triquetra that was glowing bright red. Harry thought the red ball of fire surrounded by the azure Triquetra looked amazing as it hung in the air. A comet of flame shot from the red fire, doing a quick circuit of the Great Hall then shooting at Headmaster Karkaroff. Just before it reached him the flames died away, revealing a scroll that the Headmaster caught easily enough.

With all the pomp and ceremony he could muster, Headmaster Karkaroff walked up to the platform and unrolled the scroll. Just as he was about to start reading it allowed his eyes widened in surprise. Karkaroff turned back to the other two school heads that were on the stage with him and called them over to him. Harry couldn't hear what they were saying, but the sense of impending doom that had lingered in him all day was now so heavy it threatened to crush him. Quickly, the heads seemed to come to a decision. Karkaroff returned to the centre of the stage, and without any of the pomp and ceremony that he had the first time around, read out the scroll.

_"Demonstrating the power of Demstang, Viktor Krum! Aided by his comrades Leonid Poliakoff and Emilia Ivanova!"_

The Great Hall erupted into noise as everyone, students, teachers and guests, all abruptly started asking questions to the people next to them. The most common question Harry heard was a variation of "I thought it was one champion per school?" Harry, however, was trying to hold back a panic attack. He knew it, he just knew it. As soon as he learnt that the draw was on Halloween, he knew his name was coming out of that flaming cup, and here was evidence that the cup had been Tampered with.

"If the three of you would please make your way to the trophy room through that door there. The other heads and I will join you and the other champions shortly." 

The three Durmstrang students got up and left, and soon everyone's attention was drawn back to the Triquetra as the ball of red fire died and another explosion of light was replaced by a blue ball of fire. A second comet of fire leapt from the heart of the Triquetra and after a circuit of the great hall headed to Headmistress Maxime. She caught the scroll that emerged and walked to the center of the stage before unrolling the scroll of parchment and reading aloud.

 _"Standing for the pride of Beauxbatons: Alison Tucker! Aided by her friends Marie De Villiers and Alexandre De Villiers!_ If you three would also please join the competitors from Durmstrang." 

The headmistress walked back to her seat, a lot less shock at the extra names the second time. This time Harry found himself splitting along with Hermione. It was great that Hermione's not-cousin had been selected for the tournament, but depending on whose name or names came out of the goblet for Hogwarts, Harry could have a hard time deciding whom to cheer for. He was focusing on that dilemma in the vain hope to hold back his panic attack.

The attention was back on the Triquetra as people waited for the ball of blue fire to die. They didn't have to wait long, in another explosion of light the blue ball of flame was replaced by a green one, and a third comet of fire leapt from the heart of the Triquetra. After one last circuit of the Great Hall, it headed to headmaster Dumbledore, who almost lazily caught the scroll before he stepped forward and read out 

" _Representing the honour of Hogwarts! Cedric Diggory! aided by his allies Roger Davies and Marcus Flint!_ If the three of you can please go keep our guests in the trophy room entertained, I will join you shortly."

Harry relaxed as the hall burst into a round of cheers. It looked like Gryffindor had really lost out, with each of the other Hogwarts houses having a representative in the tournament, but if that was the price they had to pay for Harry to have a quiet year then so be it. After all, he still had Quidditch to keep him occupied. "Maybe I can have a quiet year for once?" he muttered to no one in particular.

Almost as if the Triquetra had been waiting for Harry to say that line, the flames at its heart turned black and a fourth comet was flying around the room. After it had completed its circuit, it flew over at the staff table where the rest of the Hogwarts professors and the guests from the Ministry were seated. The scroll landed on the table directly in front of Professor McGonagall, who glanced at Dumbledore before standing and joining the three school heads on the smaller stage. After a quick read of the scroll herself, she read out in a shaky voice.

_"Fighting for his life, Harry Potter! Aided by his half-breed whores Hermione Granger and Fleur Delacour!"_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dun dun dun!!! So what do you all think of my little twist on the tournament? 
> 
> Congrats to honeypotts over on ao3 you guessed correctly that Allison's dad died of dragon box you get to reward yourself with a whole packet of cookies.


	13. Chapter 13 - lighting the fire pt2

_ "Fighting for his life, Harry Potter! Aided by his half-breed whores Hermione Granger and Fleur Delacour!" _

The words echoed through Harry's head, but it was like they had lost all their meaning. His hand started to hurt so he looked down. Hermione had his hand in a death grip, as though she was terrified that if she let go one of them would fall away and never be seen again. Harry gripped her hand tighter as well.

"Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Fleur Delacour, please make your way to the trophy room." Harry heard the headmaster but he was too busy trying to wrap his head around what was happening to react. Someone put their hand on his shoulder, and it jerked Harry back to reality. He looked for the owner of the hand and saw that it was Neville. His dorm mate didn't say anything, but it was clear he was offering his support.

Before anything else could happen Harry felt another hand on his shoulder, this time the unoccupied one between him and Hermione. Miss Delacour's face was hovering between him and Hermione, her face as white as a sheet. "Come on, let's go sort this out." Her voice was calm, but Harry had the impression that (like Daphne) the French girl wore a mask of calm often and it was far from the truth. 

Hermione stood up first, and as neither had let go of the other’s hand, Harry was pulled along as well. They walked through the great hall, the room filled with the buzz of whispers as people stared at them as they walked past. "Into the trophy room please. The other judges and I will be through in a moment., The headmaster said as they passed by him. Harry looked at Dumbledore, and the headmaster looked back at him calmly, his eyes twinkling as he met Harry's gase.

The three of them went through the side door in the great hall that led to the Hogwarts trophy room. The room was large, but most of the space was taken up by the various trophies that the school or the students had won since the school opened many centuries ago. There would have been plenty of room for three students to stand around waiting, but as there were already nine and they were about to make it twelve, the room was looking a little crowded. When they walked in the room, every face turned to look at them. They obviously expected the teachers to come in to explain what happened next, so they were surprised to see three more students walk in.

"What's going on?" Cedric asked, looking at them.

"Our names also came out of the goblet," Fleur replied to the shock of the people already in the room.

“What's the matter, Potter and Granger, couldn't go one Halloween without making a scene? Had to sneak your name into the goblet as well?” Marcus Flint drawled while staring at them.

“We did not enter our names into this bloody deathmatch of a tournament!” Hermione half-shouted at the Slytherin.

“Dragon shit! You needed a slip signed with a blood quill to enter the tournament, I doubt even a mudblood like you is stupid enough to sign something like that and just leave it lying around." Flint was on the edge of yelling.

Ali whirled around on Flint. "Shut the fuck up you uncouth, disgusting bigot. I have known Hermione since she was five years old. If Hermione said she didn't put her name in the goblet then she didn't." Everyone in the room was glaring at Flint but Harry thought it had more to do with his calling Hermione a mudblood than it did about disbelief of his position regarding Harry and Hermione entering the tournament.

"I don't care how long you have known the chit, I have seen her here for over three years, and every year she and Potter get up to something on Halloween." Flint had put his hand on his wand while he glared at Ali, but hadn't drawn it.

"You can't exactly blame them for that stuff. I seriously doubt that they lured a troll into the castle in their first year, and there is no way you could blame them for LeStrange last year. No one knows what happened with the Chamber of Secrets, but I doubt that those two started it." Cedric tried to calm everyone down, and Roger Davies was nodding at what Cedric said.

Flint was just about to start again when the door burst open and the room was flooded with adults: Professors Dumbledore, Moody, McGonagall, Flitwick, Snape, and Sprout, along with the heads of the visiting schools Maxime and Karkaroff and the two Ministry officials Crouch and Bagman. Dumbledore walked right up to Harry and Hermione fixed them both with a stare and asked. "How did the two of you enter your names into the Goblet of Fire? Did you get an older student to do it for you?"

"Neither of us entered the tournament. We didn't ask anyone to add our names to the goblet, nor did we sign a slip with a blood quill," Hermione answered promptly.

"Five points from Gryffindor for lies, Miss Granger," Snape butted in.

"Countermanded! You haven't proved that it's a lie yet," McGonagall shot at Snape.

Dumbledore looked at both of the teachers. "It stands. The two of them must have signed the slips that were placed in the goblet. It only accepts blood submissions because it's a binding magical contract, and a number of professors, including myself, saw Mr. Potter examining the age line"

"We haven't signed any slips of parchment with a blood quill." Harry tried to tell them, but it only led to Snape docking five more points from Gryffindor. 

"What about there being so many champions?" Fleur asked while watching Harry and Hermione closely. "We were told it was one champion per school, but now Beauxbatons has four, Durmstrang has three and Hogwarts has five. This seems most unfair. Also, should not Miss Granger and Mr. Potter be disqualified as they are under age?"

Crouch spoke up for the first time. "I'm afraid it's not that simple, Mademoiselle. Somehow, the goblet chose not individually but teams. There is a team of three for each school but somehow, no doubt in an attempt to hoodwink the goblet into choosing a specific competitor, you, Miss Granger, and Mr. Potter were also chosen as a fourth team. And as your magic is now linked to the goblet, you will all have to compete as a team or you all forfeit your magic." 

Fleur got angry as Crouch spoke and flames started to flickered between her fingers, and once Crouch was finished speaking she started shouting at him "But Harry.. and Hermione, are too young!" Everyone could tell she added Hermione as an afterthought. "It is too dangerous for them to enter this tournament. I will not allow you to endanger my betrothed in such a way!"

The whole room went silent and stared at the young woman, and her words bounced around Harry's head. Hermione regained her voice first. "What do you mean, ‘betrothed’? You can't mean Harry, the two of you have never even met before." Hermione sounded firm and she shifted so that she was pressed up against him.

Fleur winced. "Sorry, I meant to keep this conversation till tomorrow. Harry and I have met before, but I was so young I barely remember it so Harry wouldn't remember. Can we talk about this later? Let's sort out the tournament stuff first. Please." The French witch looked genuinely upset with herself for the way she had revealed things to everyone, instead of in a private conversation.

During all this, Professor Moody had just been watching a calculating look on his face. Now he decided to speak up. "Can I please have a look at the slip that came out of the goblet,, Minerva?"

The head of Gryffindor handed him a slip of singed parchment and he read it over before he turned to Harry and Hermione and asked. "You say you didn't know about the betrothal to the French lass?"

Both Harry and Hermione shook their heads.

"And you can confirm they didn't know?" he asked Fleur.

"I don't think so. Harry was just a baby at the time, but it was supposed to be mentioned in his parents' will and my father has sent Harry a few owls about it. Harry never wrote back and he didn't act like he even knew who I was when I introduced myself to him on Friday. I planned to talk with him tomorrow." Fleur answered.

"And, I think I need to ask a crass question. Can you tell me your race and blood status please?" Moody asked as he looked between the slip of parchment, Fleur and Hermione. 

She glared at Professor Moody while answering, " My father is a pureblood, but like my mother, I am a veela." She almost sounded like she was daring the professor to have a problem with her.

"No judgement lass, but I needed to ask. Mr. Potter, Miss Granger, you said you haven't signed any slips of parchment with a blood quill. Did you mean never at Hogwarts? Have you ever signed anything with a blood quill?"

Hermione looked at Harry before answering. "Yes, Harry and I went to France over the summer to see some friends of my family. Harry and I took an international portkey because I didn't want to risk having to reveal my ears at muggle immigration. We had to sign forms with a blood quill before we left."

Ali spoke up. "I can confirm they came to France. They were visiting my family."

"I also signed a contract over the summer with a blood quill." Harry added. 

"Who did you sign the contract for?" Dumbledore asked, taken aback. 

Harry shrugged, having no reason not to say as it would be public soon enough. "Garrick Ollivander. I licenced him to make and sell something I designed."

"That was incredibly foolish of you my boy, you should seek out advice from a responsible adult before making such decisions," Dumbledore admonished Harry. 

Before Harry could respond professor McGonagall jumped in. "Mr. Potter was acting on  _ my advice _ Albus, and I assure you Garrick was the best person for Harry to approach with his patent."

Before the two teachers could start bickering, Moody said loudly. "Right I'm going to go and contact Director Bones."

Dumbledore turned to Moody sharply, all thought of contracts and whether Harry had gotten good advice clearly gone from his mind. "Why would you want to contact the head of the Department for Magical Law Enforcement? This is a school matter, there is no need for her involvement."

"You think so Albus? We have a death threat to the last Potter and the two women who look like they are the future of the Potter family, a death threat that contains information Mr. Potter didn't know, and you don't think this is a matter for investigation?"

"I'm not saying we shouldn't look into it, I'm just saying that this happened here at the school. It is for my staff and I to investigate," Dumbledore answered.

"Yet we have evidence that there was a theft of documents from the Ministry involved. That is well outside a school matter, and let's not forget that one of the only people in this business who has access to such documents is you. You have means and opportunity, that makes you a suspect, and the employer of the people you propose do the investigation. No Albus, this is a matter for the D.M.L.E., and Director Bones has said to me that if anything happens with Potter, she is who I call."

"Surely, old friend, you can't think I would enter Harry into this tournament? Why ever would I?" Dumbledore asked but at the same time Fleur spoke up. 

"Why would the head of your law enforcement be so interested in Harry?" Fleur asked.

Moody addressed Fleur first. "Not my business to tell, lass. And Albus, you know as well as I, that it doesn't matter if I think you’re innocent. Until I have proof you didn't do it, or proof someone else did, then you are under investigation. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a floo call to make. I suggest that while I am gone you fill the champions in on the first task." Everyone watched the old auror limp out of the room before falling into silence. 

After a minute Bagman broke the silence. "Barty, you know the rules better than anyone. Is there anyway to get the fourth team out of the tournament?"

"No the rules are clear. Once a person's name comes out of the goblet, they are a champion and are bound to compete. The champion must put forth every reasonable effort to undertake the tasks or they forfeit their magic, and we all know losing your magic will probably kill you. It would definitely kill a veela. And as they must compete as a team, then if even one drops out..." He looked at Fleur. "Well we won't be disqualifying any of them."

Bagman nodded excitedly then, as if everyone was having fun. "Excellent, the first task is called 'trial by fire'. You don't get to know more than that, facing the unknown is a part of the task. You will present yourselves at the stadium - you'll know where it is, trust me - on Friday the 25th of November at 2:00PM. As per the standard rules, you may only start the task with your wand and any magical items, focuses or aids that you have constructed yourself. Your outfit can only be clothing, no armour or protective gear, unless you constructed it yourself."

"So not only do Harry and I have to compete in a death tournament we didn't agree to, when we are under prepared we don't even get to know what we need to do to prepare, except that it's called trial by fire? Can we at least get some help?" Hermione's tone already showed that she thought help would be unlikely.

Bagman was either ignoring Hermione’s tone or he just didn't care, as he answered in his regular jovial way. "Your faculty advisor can help you, but none of your other teachers. It's to stop the home team having too much of an advantage."

"And who is our advisor?" Fleur asked.

Crouch stepped in. "Normally it would be the head teacher of the champion, but as professor Dumbledore was already selected as the advisor for Mr. Diggory's team and Madame Maxime had already been selected for Mademoiselle Tucker's team, the goblet had apparently chosen the next closest for Team Potter. Professor McGonagall is the deputy Head for Hogwarts, and there are two Hogwarts students on the… the international school team, so the magic of the goblet selected her." He turned to the professor in question. "It's why the slip flew into your hand."

"That is all well and good," Karkaroff interrupted, "but this mixed team has no representation of my school. It gives glory to Hogwarts and Beauxbatons if they win. I insist that my school be represented."

"And how would you accomplish that?" Crouch asked Karkaroff.

"We transfer Potter to Durmstrang," Karkaroff said as if it was the simplest thing in the world.

"No way. I'm not going to Durmstrang!" Harry protested.

"Given your past, Karkaroff, there is no way the British Ministry would allow Mr. Potter to be transferred into your care," Crouch looked at karkaroff as he spoke, and for a second Harry was sure he saw a flash of hate in Crouch's face. For some reason, Crouch hated the Durmstrang headmaster but didn't want to show it. Harry wondered what Karkaroff had done to get Crouch to hate him so much, but it must have been something really big. 

"Don't even consider asking about Miss Granger, she doesn't meet your school’s bigoted standards for entry." Professor McGonagall cut off karkaroff before he could even consider asking.

There was a bit more discussing but it quickly turned into everyone arguing in circles, until Flint interrupted. "As interesting as it is listening to how you are going to talk yourselves out of punishing Potter for breaking the rules again, do we really need to be here for it? You already told us what we need to bring for the task, so can I go? I have a letter to my family to write and a common room full of Slytherins waiting to congratulate me."

Professor McGonagall looked at the crowd of students "You are right, unless Director Bagman or Director Crouch have a thing to add?” The two men shook their heads indicating that they didn't. "Or do any of you have any questions?"

"I have a question Madame." The other witch on Ali's team spoke up and Professor McGonagall indicated that she should continue. "When I entered this tournament, I understood that I would be competing alone for a prize of 3000 galleons. Should my team win, will I still receive 3000 galleons or am I now expected to split that prize? Risk my life for only a fraction of what I promised when I signed up?"

Harry groaned at the mercantile attitude of the witch, but the wizard who Harry thought was her brother (they definitely looked similar enough to be related and they had the same last name, but Harry supposed they could be cousins) was nodding along with every word she said. Flint and Davis were also nodding and the Durmstrang students had a look of interest.

Bagman looked uncomfortable. " I don't know. There isn’t really a budget for... I will have to look into it."

"That hardly seems fair, the agreement was simple. We enter the tournament and accept the risks, we get a chance to walk away with 3000 galleons. The whole point of my sister and I entering was that we would each get the chance to win enough gold to pay for one of our apprenticeships to get a Mastery." The French wizard joined his sister.

Crouch stepped in seeing his colleague floundering at the questions he was receiving from two teenagers. "Messr and Mademoiselle  _ De Villiers,  _ I understand your position; however, adding an additional 6000 gallons to the prize money is not something we can just agree to here and now. There are budgets to go over, approval processes. I give my word that I will look into the matter and get back to you." He attempted to placate the French teens and with them everyone who was agreeing with them. 

Harry thought it was a real politician's non-answer, but the De Villiers siblings seemed to accept it and everyone started to file out of the room. Karkaroff was first to leave with his students, and Flint followed practically right on their heels. Roger Davies and Cedric Diggory left soon after, Cedric wishing the remaining champions good luck. Madame Maxime left with the De Villiers but Ali and Fleur had stayed behind. Madam Maxime Wanted to walk her champions back to the carriage and check on the rest of her students before she returned to support Fleur.

Fleur stayed because she would have to speak to the D.M.L.E. when they arrived, and Ali had told her headmistress that she would be staying to watch out for Hermione or she would never be able to look Hermione’s parents in the eye again. Bagman and Crouch left after Bagman had browbeat Crouch for them to go do the paperwork to accommodate nine extra champions. Harry got the impression that it was like when Ron used to get Hermione to help with his homework, the help was because both Bagman and Ron had no clue what they were doing. 

Harry would have been disillusioned with the Ministry if all the departments were run by people like Bagman, but the other two department heads he had met had a much more competent air to them. Plus, it wasn't as though Bagman was in charge of an important department like the D.M.L.E. He was in charge of Magical Games and Sports, not exactly an important department overall.

Three of the heads of House left as well, leaving Professors McGonagall and Dumbledore with the four of them. "Maybe we should move this little meeting to my office," Dumbledore suggested. "There are chairs there.

That was mostly accepted, but Professor McGonagall had them change to the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom. "Alastor will probably bring Amelia through his floo, it's easier to meet there than running around the castle." McGonagall argued before she summoned a house elf to inform Madame Maxime where they had moved to, and to watch the fire in the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher’s study.

**\---ϟϟϟ---**

Hermione was scared, furious, stressed, and horny. It wasn't a fun combination. In the last hour, she and Harry had been entered against their will into a tournament that was discontinued due to its death count, been accused of cheating, and the fuckin' gorgeous French tart was trying to claim that Harry, Her Harry, was betrothed to someone he had never met. If the French witch thought she could just sashay into here and take Harry for herself, then she had another thing coming. Hermione had put almost two years into this relationship, she and Harry were strong. It didn't matter that the French tart was all legs and curves and drop dead gorgeous in a way that Hermione just wasn't.

They were now waiting in the D.A.D.A. classroom. Harry, either out of habit or as a show of unity, had sat next to her, and Hermione had wrapped herself around him in part for comfort due to all the stress but just as much signalling that Harry was, and would remain hers. It wasn’t long before Professor Moody returned with Director Bones and two Aurors. One of whom she had never seen before, and one was Tonks. The director had obviously chosen to bring Tonks because she and Harry were already comfortable with the young Auror. The other Auror was also a woman but a few years older than Tonks. Hermione was glad that it wasn't one of the Aurors that had tried to obliviate her mother. Not that she knew what they looked like, but she knew that they were both men so this woman couldn't possibly be one of them. She wasn't sure she could keep her cool head if one of those two had been with the director. 

Director Bones was all business as soon as she walked in. "OK, for everyone who doesn't know the procedure. I will be asking each of you some questions while a Department of Magical Law Enforcement dictaquill will write out everything you say. Depending on your answers, we will decide on whether to open an investigation afterwards." Hermione was really impressed by Director Bones. The older woman had a no-nonsense attitude when it was needed but was still friendly and approachable.

"Auror Jones, can you please set up the dictaquill?" Director Bones hadn't been in the room for two minutes and she was already taking over the room. Hermione watched as the Auror Director Bones had called Jones set up a small bureau with parchment and a solid blue quill. Tonks was whispering to her boss who nodded, causing Tonks to smile.

"Harry, Hermione, come with me a sec. I need you both to show me where the bathroom is," Tonks called before she put her badge on the table next to her boss. "I'm taking a quick personal break boss, I'll be right back." Hermione eyed the badge on the table and understood. Tonks wanted to tell them something that she couldn't as an Auror, so she was on a break talking to her cousin and his girlfriend. She had left her badge behind because if she was wearing it someone could say she was acting as an Auror. 

Harry had missed all the subtlety of what Tonks had just done and was about to say something, probably to tell Tonks exactly where the bathroom was, so Hermione got to her feet pulling Harry with her and started to follow Tonks. "Come on Harry, it will be a chance to catch up. We haven't seen Tonks in months."

As soon as the door was closed behind them, Tonks turned around and asked, "OK, tell me quickly, did you two enter your names? Not mad if you did, but if you didn't then stuff could be serious."

The two of them shook their heads and Harry said, "Honestly, we never put our names in, nor did we want anyone else to."

"What about signing something with the blood quill? Did you sign anything since you arrived at school that could be used to enter you into the tournament?" They shook their heads; Tonks' questions were firm, and it was obvious something about this situation was winding her up.

"OK, the two of you follow me." Tonks took them both to the ladies room on the same floor as the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom. After a quick look inside, she pushed both Hermione and Harry in, quieting Harry's protest about entering a ladies’ room, saying “It’s not like there is anyone in here.”

"OK Harry, I need to be very careful here. Do you remember this little speech Director Bones gave you when she first asked you questions about your relatives?" Tonks asked seriously.

Harry nodded. "Yea. I didn't understand it at first, Dan had to explain what it meant."

"Ok you two here is what I suggest you do…"

**\---ϟϟϟ---**

When Harry and Hermione returned to the defence against the dark arts classroom with Tonks, Madame Maxime had already arrived and Director Bones was already asking Dumbledore questions.

"I don't see how the fact that you needed to use a blood quill should have been enough to stop something like this. The age line was just to stop younger students from entering their names." Dumbledore was in the middle of defending his security by the sound of it.

"Yet we are in this situation, so obviously your security measures were at best inadequate." The head of the D.M.L.E's words were harsh, but as far as Harry was concerned, true.

Tonks picked up her badge from the table and re-attached it to her uniform while Harry and Hermione took seats waiting for their turn.

"Is there any way to remove at least the underaged champions from the total safely?"

"None that I am aware of, and I am loath to try anything that anyone comes up with given the consequences if it goes wrong."

"What about the tasks themselves, can they be changed to something safer?"

"The tasks are outlined in the document that starts the tournament, they cannot be changed after the goblet has chosen its champions."

"Weren't those tasks designed for only one Champion? How will having multiple champions affect it?"

"I don't know yet, Barty is currently looking into it."

Director Bones shot Dumbledore a look before saying. "For the record, Barty refers to Bartemius Crouch Senior, the current head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation. Did anyone think to check if the tasks themselves had been tampered with?"

Dumbledore paled at that question, he obviously hadn't thought to check. "I need to be excused, Director Bones. I need to follow up on that question immediately." And without so much as a by-your-leave, the headmaster ran out of the room leaving a crowd of worried people behind him.

Harry and Hermione were questioned together. They gave their names for the dictaquill and Professor McGonagall once again stood  _ in loco parentis _ for them, just as she did when they were questioned about LeStrange.

"Harry James Potter, Hermione Jean Granger, you are being interviewed under caution as part of the D.M.L.E. investigation into your names coming out of the Goblet of Fire. You are not under arrest at this time." The director took a breath before she continued. "You do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in front of the Wizengamot. You cannot be magically compelled to speak against your will, but you do have the option to waive that right if you so wish. However, you are hereby advised that could leave you open to questions beyond the scope of the investigation. Anything you say may be given in evidence. "Do the two of you understand your rights as I have explained them to you?" Director Bones asked. 

Hermione nodded and Harry answered for them. "We do." Harry took a deep breath before continuing. "I waive my right to not be magically compelled and offer an unbreakable vow that everything I say for fifteen minutes will be the truth as I know it."

The room erupted as Ali, Fleur, Madame Maxime and Professor McGonagall all started shouting at once telling him it was a bad idea. Professor McGonagall strode over to Harry and put her hand on his shoulder before saying "Mister Potter, do you know what happens if you break an unbreakable vow?"

"I do, but it'll only be for fifteen minutes and Hermione will body bind me if we finish before that so I just need to answer a few questions honestly. I think I can pull that off." Harry reassured his head of house.

Madame Maxime was having none of it. "You’re magically bound to my student though this tournament, if you die the goblet could class it as a forfeit and kill her. I won't allow it."

Director Bones cut off Madame Maxime. "It is Mr… no it is Warlock Potter’s right to give testimony under vow if he chooses. You can't forbid it. However, I promise you that I will be extremely careful in my questions."

"Harry, I know you don't know me yet, but please this is dangerous. I..." Fleur turned to Hermione, who had been dragged into a whispered argument by Ali. "Do you trust him to do this?"

Hermione looked at the French witch with a look of disdain before answering. "If I didn't trust Harry to do this right, he wouldn't be doing it. Harry is more than capable enough to do this" As though Hermione’s opinion of it was all Fleur needed, she sat down to wait.

The procedure for questioning under a vow was more complex than Harry expected. Harry expected to say the vow then sit and answer Director Bones's questions. Instead, they sat down first and constructed the vow. Harry's first suggestion of 'I vow to speak only the truth for the next 15 minutes.' was dismissed immediately. There was a lot of discussion back and forth, with Madame Maxime contributing a lot. Director Bones seemed to think the best way to keep her calm was to let her help craft the vow.

In the end the vow looked like this: 'Do you vow to speak only the truth as you know it, to answer any questions regarding the incident where your name came out of the Goblet of Fire, asked by Director Bones of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, that she asks you in the next fifteen minutes?' It was wordy, but everyone was as happy with it as they were going to get. The caveats on it only applying to questions asked by Director Bones had been Madame Maxime’s input. She seemed to be the type of teacher who would really go beyond for her students. Harry wished that the teachers at Hogwarts were more like that, maybe he wouldn't have Madame Pomfrey threatening to put a nameplate over one of the beds in the hospital wing reserving it for his use.

Next, Director Bones wrote out a list of questions and gave it to him and told him. "Those are the questions I will be asking you. Think about how you are going to answer them. Keep the answers simple. You can tell me more details later but while under the vow we want the basic facts only." After Harry had read through the questions and said he was ready, he was directed to take a knee in front of Director Bones and to grasp hold of her forearm.

Tonks pulled out her wand and turned to Harry. "Are you sure you want to do this? Once a vow is in place it has to run its course."

Harry nodded "Yes, I'm sure."

Tonks put the tip of her wand so it was touching both his arm and the Director's and started the vow. "Do you vow to speak only the truth as you know it, to answer any questions regarding the incident where your name came out of the Goblet of Fire, asked by Director Bones of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, that she asks you in the next fifteen minutes?"

"I do." As Harry spoke, a thin chain of fire streamed from Tonks’s wand and wrapped itself around the two clasped forearms. Harry could feel the magic make its way up his arm and settle around his heart. It was a strange feeling; it wasn't uncomfortable, but the magic had a sort of heaviness to it. Harry wondered if that was more in his head, after all the magic was there to kill him if he broke his vow.

Harry and the Director returned to their seats, and Director Bones turned to him as Tonks asked, "Are you ready to continue?"

Harry nodded, though he didn't really feel ready. Director bones pulled some parchment in front of her. “For the record, Mr. Potter has taken a magical vow to tell the truth during this interview. A copy of the vow will be included in the file." The dictaquill dutifully copied down the Director’s words under the watch of Auror Jones. Harry was instructed to introduce himself to the quill, which he did.

"OK, first question. Did you, Harry Potter, put your name in the Goblet of Fire?"

"No." Harry answered simply. 

The director nodded at his answer, clearly expecting it before she asked the extra one. "Did you, Harry Potter, ever ask another student to put the name in for you?"

"No."

"Did you ask a member of staff to put the name in the Goblet of Fire for you?"

"No."

"Were you, Harry Potter, aware that your name was in the goblet before it came out?"

"No." Harry was starting to feel like a parrot who only knew the word no.

"Did you, Harry Potter, ever sign anything with a blood quill?"

"Yes." Yay, a new word.

"Did you ever sign anything at Hogwarts with a blood quill?"

"No." The new word didn’t last long.

"Do you recall how many documents you have signed with a blood quill?"

"Yes."

"Please elaborate on the number."

"Two.” 

"Please can you tell me what documents you signed."

"I had to sign some travel paperwork at the Ministry of Magic before I went to France over the summer. I also signed a contract with Garrick Ollivander the wandmaker, so that his company could produce a product I had designed."

"Do you wish to be in this tournament?"

"I do not."

"Were you aware of a betrothal between you and Miss Delacour before today?

"I was not."

"Do you know who put your name in the goblet?"

"No.”

There were a few more questions but they soon finished. Hermione didn't put him in a full body bind despite there still being five minutes left, as the caveats in the vow meant that Harry was safe. Hermione was up for questioning right after Harry and no one was surprised to hear Hermione also request to take a vow.

While Hermione was answering her questions, Fleur came over to where Harry was sitting and sat on a nearby desk, purposely avoiding the chair Hermione had left. She was quiet for over a minute before she said anything. "I'm sorry."

"What for?" Harry asked, watching Hermione as he spoke. 

"Making your life more complicated." She went quiet for a few seconds before adding. "She is pretty and she cares about you."

"Hermione is more than pretty. Hermione is intelligent, caring, and loyal. I probably would have died by now if it wasn't for her. She is my world, my everything." Harry was laying it on a little thick, but nothing he said was untrue. 

"We need to work out how we are going to handle this going forward."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, for the tournament we need to train together, and we need to work out what we are going to do about the betrothal. Will you and Hermione stay behind after we are finished with the Aurors? The sooner we talk the better."

A part of Harry really wanted to say no, but unfortunately, Fleur was right, they did need to talk. "OK, we'll talk."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OK so another bombshell drops but I think some of you worked this one out already. Yes, this is a Harry/Hermione/Fleur fic. So cookies for any of you who called that.
> 
> I know a number of you will feel like Fleur is just being shoehorned in here, and that’s how it’s supposed to feel; it's how Harry and Hermione will feel. But just like fire in alchemy, she is a catalyst for change that the story needs to progress.
> 
> This isn't going to be a walk in the park for the three of them, where they jump into bed together after only a few chapters. This is something that is going to take pain and work to come together for them.


End file.
